NICAEAGUA: 

\Var  of  the  Filibusters, 


BY  JUDGE  DANIEL  B.  LUCAS, 

«\ 

Late  President  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeals  of  West  Virginia. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER 

By  Hon.  LEWIS    BAKER, 
United  States  Minister  to  Central  America. 


THE  NICARAGUA^  CANAL, 

BY  HON.  W.  A.  MAcCORKLE, 

Governor  of  West  Virginia. 


THE   MONROE   DOCTRINE, 

BY   J.    FAIRFAX    McLAUGHLIN,   LL.  D. 


RICHMOND,  VA.; 

B.  F.  JOHNSON  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1896. 


COPYRIGHTED,  1896, 
B.  F.  JOHNSON  PUBLISHING  Co. 


L  o 


VJVAR.8U 


INTRODUCTORY. 


AT  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  1st  of  this 
year,  I  wa§  awakened,  in  San  Jos6,  Costa  Bica,  by 
the  firing  of  cannon  and  the  noise  of  a  brass  band 
parading  the  streets.  On  picking  up  the  morning 
papers  I  learned  that  the  demonstration  was  an  act 
of  rejoicing  over  the  surrender  in  Nicaragua  of  "  el 
filibustero  Yankee  William  Walker,"  on  the  1st  of 
May,  1857 — thirty-eight  years  ago.  With  my  coffee 
I  glanced  over  that  morning's  issue  of  six  of  the 
eight  daily  papers  of  the  city,  and  each  one  con- 
tained an  editorial  glorification  of  the  heroic  action 
of  the  Central  Americans  in  expelling  Walker  and 
his  followers  from  their  soil.  These  articles  were 
pitched  on  a  high  and  patriotic  key;  and  some  of 
the  papers  denounced  in  manly  terms  all  species  of 
interference  in  the  Home  Rule  of  these  countries  by 
outsiders. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  a  distinguished 
local  orator  delivered  an  address  in  Congress  Hall 
before  an  interested  audience  of  the  representative, 
ruling  citizens  of  Costa  Rica,  having  the  Walker  in- 
vasion as  his  theme. 

My  attention  having  thus  been  drawn  to  the  gen- 
eral subject,  I  found,  on  looking  around,  many  evi- 

[3] 


Introductory. 

dences  in  Costa  Rica  of  the  lively  interest  still  felt 
in  the  effort  of  William  Walker  to  subjugate  Nicara- 
gua, with  a  view  of  planting  therein  another  race  of 
people. 

I  also  remembered  that  in  Nicaragua,  the  14th  of 
September,  the  anniversary  of  the  defeat  of  Walker's 
forces  at  San  Jacinto  in  1856,  in  which  skirmish 
Byron  Cole  lost  his  life,  is  annually  celebrated  ;  and 
that  in  March  of  last  year,  the  present  Liberal  Gov- 
ernment of  Nicaragua  disinterred  the  bones  of  Gen- 
eral Maximo  Jerez,  which  had  been  smouldering  in 
the  church-yard  at  Rivas,  and  with  much  pomp  of 
parade,  carried  them  across  the  Republic,  exhibiting 
them  in  state  at  Granada  and  Managua,  and  deposit- 
ing then  in  a  vault  at  Leon.* 

These  ceremonies,  which  extended  over  more  than 
one  week,  were  given  all  the  significance  which  pub- 
lic speeches,  flags  and  banners,  parades  and  music, 
cannon  and  skyrockets  could  bestow.  The  day  upon 
which  General  Ortiz  would  arrive  at  Leon  with  his 
troops  fresh  from  their  victorious  campaign  in  ex- 
pelling the  Conservative  President  Vesquez  from 
Honduras  and  installing  Dr.  Policarpo  Bonilla,  a 
Liberal,  in  his  stead,  was  selected  as  that  upon  which 


*  Leon  had  been  adopted  by  the  Directory  of  the  Liberal  Revolutionists 
of  1854,  as  their  capital  of  Nicaragua;  while  tho  Legitimate  government, 
whose  President  was  Fruto  Chamorro,  continued  to  administer  its  au- 
thority at  Granada.  Cole,  who  was  killed  at  San  Jacinto,  was  the  Ame- 
rican with  whom  the  Liberal  Directory  made  the  first  contract  to  bring 
immigrants,  with  the  guaranteed  right  to  bear  arms,  into  Nicaragua;  and 
this  was  the  invitation  which  Walker  accepted. 


Introductory.  6 

the  climax  of  the  celebration  was  to  take  place.  The 
country  people  and  the  soldiery  of  the  Republic  over- 
ran the  quaint  old  city  which  had  been  a  seat  of 
many  a  destructive  quake,  both  of  the  earth  and  of 
political  factions. 

I  have  thus  briefly  pointed  to  some  of  the  evidence 
that,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  forty  years,  the  Walker 
invasion  is  a  reality  with  the  people  of  Costa  Rica 
and  Nicaragua.  The  generation  which  knew  Walker 
has,  with  Walker  himself,  passed  over  the  Divide, 
but  the  patriotic  spirit  which  repelled  his  intrusion 
is  as  bright  in  this  generation  as  it  was  in  1856-'7. 
At  that  time  there  were  a  few  intelligent  citizens  who 
believed  at  first  that  the  United  States  Government, 
under  the  influence  of  the  slaveholding  element  then 
dominant  at  Washington,  was  either  openly  backing 
Walker  or  giving  him  its  covert  encouragement,  and 
Walker  shrewdly  disseminated  that  idea — apparently 
believing  it  himself.  Some  of  these  people  hoped 
that  this  incursion  of  filibusters  would  result  in  the 
incorporation  of  these  countries  as  a  part  of  the  Great 
Republic  of  the  North.  There  are  even  now  a  few 
good  citizens,  natives,  who  would  be  pleased  to  see 
annexation  and  who  could  be  induced  to  occupy 
seats  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives at  Washington  from  the  States  of  Nicaragua 
and  Costa  Rica,  but  they  are  intelligent  enough  to 
understand  that  there  is  but  little  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States  for  the  annexation 
of  a  foot  of  territory  lying  south  of  that  country. 


6  Introductory. 

They  appreciate  the  impolicy  of  the  Great  Republic 
bringing  into  its  political  system  a  territory  peopled 
almost  exclusively  by  another  race,  who  speak  an- 
other language,  profess  a  different  religion,  who  are 
accustomed  to  a  code  of  laws  foreign  to  our  jurispru- 
dence, whose  modes  of  thought  and  social  habits  are 
widely  dissimilar  from  ours,  and  who,  while  aspiring 
to  the  advantages  of  Republican  institutions,  are,  by 
all  of  the  above  reasons,  not  yet  prepared  to  enter  the 
family  of  the  Federal  States.  These  men  well  under- 
stand that,  while  all  Americans  have  a  keen  sympa- 
thy with  any  people  who  may  be  struggling  for  inde- 
pendence from  a  tyrannical  foreign  master,  they  are 
not  reaching  out  for  the  annexation  of  such  people. 
Uncle  Sam  prefers  to  have  them  as  friendly  neigh- 
bors rather  than  as  members  of  his  own  household. 
There  is  no  longer  any  delusion  among  the  intelli- 
gent people  of  Central  America  upon  this  point. 

It  was  in  Leon  that  the  revolution  of  July,  1893, 
in  Nicaragua,  was  organized  and  carried  to  a  suc- 
cessful conclusion,  by  which  the  Conservative  Ad- 
ministration of  President  Machado  was  driven  out 
and  the  Liberal  Administration  of  President  Zelaya 
was  brought  into  power.  General  Zelaya,  who  had 
been  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  skillful  leaders  of 
the  Conservative  revolt  in  the  preceding  April,  now 
cast  his  fortunes  with  the  Liberal  up-rising  and  led 
the  Leon  forces  to  victory.  In  this  manner  was 
inaugurated  the  first  administration  pledged  to  the 


Introductory.  7 

principles  of  the  Liberal  party  since  the  days  of 
Walker. 

The  fact  that  the  Liberal  leaders  of  1854  invited 
Walker  to  come  to  their  aid  against  the  Granada 
(Conservative)  government  and  that  they  afterwards 
joined  the  latter,  and  even  invited  aid  from  the 
sister  Republics,  in  expelling  the  armed  immigrants 
from  their  soil,  will  not  appear  in  an  inconsistent 
light  when  a  clear  view  is  had  of  the  whole  situation. 

When  the  Liberal  leaders  contracted  with  Walker 
and  his  associates,  they  had  only  in  mind  the  idea 
of  utilizing  the  Americans  in  acquiring  political 
power  for  themselves  at  the  expense  of  the  Conserva- 
tive faction.  The  Americans  were  hired  with  sala- 
ries and  lands  for  this  purpose  only.  They  were  to 
fight  as  the  Hessians  fought  for  Great  Britain  in  the 
American  revolution — as  mere  mercenaries.  They 
were  to  fight  in  a  cause  which  appealed  to  no  senti- 
ment of  patriotism,  to  kill  people  with  whom  they 
had  no  quarrel.  They  were  to  have  no  social  posi- 
tion in  the  community ;  no  position  except  that  of 
hired  butchers  of  one  faction  of  natives  in  order  that 
another  faction  might  hold  the  reins  of  government. 
With  this  understanding  of  the  mission  of  the 
American  immigrants,  the  latter  were  given  a 
genuinely  hearty  welcome  by  the  Liberals.  The 
dignitaries  of  the  Provisional  government  and  of 
Leon,  which  city  was  at  that  time  the  second  in  size 
and  importance  in  Central  America,  went  out  to 
meet  them  with  cordial  greetings.  On  their  arrival, 


8  Introductory. 

the  streets  overflowed  with  crbwds  of  people  who 
vied  with  each  other  in  demonstrations  of  good 
will  toward  their  American  deliverers.  A  great 
feast  was  spread,  and  sympathetic  women,  with 
beaming  faces,  sparkling  eyes,  arrayed  in  the  attrac- 
tive soft  colors  worn  by  the  sex  in  the  tropics, 
thronged  around  them  and  poured  forth  most  grate- 
ful thanks  for  the  protection  promised  them,  their 
children  and  their  homes,  from  their  Granada  rulers. 
These  simple  hearted  people  meant  it  all.  They 
were  sincere  in  their  exhibition  of  good  will.  But 
their  enthusiasm  rested  upon  a  misapprehension. 

Notwithstanding,  Walker  and  his  men  were  to 
receive  moneyed  salaries  and  lands  from  the  Liberals 
for  their  military  services,  they  had  no  intention  of 
fighting  the  battles  of  one  native  faction  against 
another  faction  of  natives.  They  did  not  come  to 
raise  up  the  down  trodden,  nor  to  defend  the  weak 
against  their  qppressors.  Walker  came  to  prosecute 
a  war,  having  quite  a  different  object.  He  came  in 
the  character  of  a  conqueror.  His  mission  was  to 
overthrow  the  then  existing  social  conditions  and  to 
reconstruct  the  industrial  system.  He  was  a  believer 
in  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  races  ;  a  believer 
in  the  theory  of  a  survival  of  the  fittest.  He  came 
to  plant  a  colony  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  ;  and 
he  recognized  that  this  could  only  be  done  over  the 
graves  of  the  mixed  races  which  then  occupied  the 
country.  He  took  early  steps  for  the  transfer  of  the 
lands  to  the  conquerors,  for  he  reasoned  rightly  that 


Introductory.  9 

only  by  the  possession  of  the  soil  could  the  con- 
querors hold  permanent  control.  His  object  was  to 
"  regenerate "  the  country,  as  he  called  it,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  labor  system  which  would  secure 
the  highest  cultivation  of  the  rich  soil,  and  coin  the 
valuable  forests  and  mines  into  gold.  Being  a  son 
of  a  slave-holding  State,  he  proposed  to  erect  his 
social,  political,  and  industrial  fabric  with  African 
slavery  as  its  corner-stone. 

Walker's  eye  had  not  caught  even  a  glimpse  of 
the  first  rays  of  the  new  day  of  universal  freedom 
throughout  all  the  Americas,  which  was  about  to 
dawn.  He  had  no  prophetic  vision  which  enabled 
him  to  see  that  within  ten  years  from  that  time  the 
foot  of  no  black  slave  would  press  the  soil  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  within  the  life  of  a  genera- 
tion liberty  to  the  African  would  Drevail  from  Alaska 
to  Patagonia. 

But  it  is  not  a  matter  of  wonder  that  this  fair  land, 
lying  waste  for  the  want  of  a  stable  government  and 
a  reliable  labor  system,  should  strongly  attract  a 
talented,  ambitious,  resolute,  restless  man.  That 
such  a  man,  who  was  at  the  same  time  a  devout  be- 
liever in  the  beneficence  of  the  institution  of  negro 
slavery  to  both  the  white  and  black  races,  should 
have  coveted  this  field  for  an  exhibition  of  his 
prowess,  the  exercise  of  his  statemanship,  and  the 
introduction  of  a  system  of  labor  to  which  he  was 
attached,  is  not  surprising. 


10  Introductory. 

Walker  found  here  a  country  as  picturesque  in  its 
mountains,  plains,  and  lakes  ;  as  rich  in  its  produc- 
tions ;  as  equable  in  temperature  ;  as  salubrious  in 
climate  in  most  of  its  area  as  was  ever  created  for 
the  use  of  man  ;  a  country  whose  soil  is  as  fecund 
as  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  whose  rains  are  as  fertiliz- 
ing as  the  dews  of  Egypt,  whose  sunshine  is  as  fruc- 
tifying as  the  heat  of  a  conservatory  ;  a  country 
where  frosts  never  come  to  chill  the  tender  fruits, 
nor  burning  heats  to  blast  the  growing  crops. 

He  found  here  the  perfect  combination  of  soil  and 
climate  for  the  production  of  the  choicest  qualities 
of  coffee ;  of  the  most  aromatic  cacao  ;  of  the  sweetest 
sugar  cane  ;  of  the  toughest  rubber  ;  of  the  bluest 
indigo  ;  of  corn,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  grasses.  He 
found  a  vast  park  of  the  choicest  woods — mahogany, 
ebony,  cedar,  rosewood,  dye  woods,  and  other  varie- 
ties nearly  as  valuable  ;  a  country  within  whose  hills 
gold  and  silver  abound. 

In  this  natural  garden  he  found  a  peon  popula- 
tion as  simple  in  their  habits  as  were  the  occupants 
of  the  garden  of  biblical  history  ;  a  population  whose 
food  came  without  toil,  and  who  never  thought  of 
clothing  as  a  matter  of  comfort,  who  labored,  if  at 
all,  on  the  homoeopathic  principle,  and  who  con- 
tributed but  little  to  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
He  argued  that,  as  these  Indians,  docile,  listless, 
without  aim  or  ambition,  languished  and  died  under 
a  system  of  enforced  labor,  and  the  negro  multiplied 
and  waxed  fat  under  a  similar  system,  the  substitu- 


Introductory.  11 

tion  of  the  black  for  the  bronzed  race,  would  be  wise 
and  just. 

Walker  found  a  country  rent  by  factions,  mar- 
shalled by  ambitious  leaders,  under  whose  alternate 
domination  the  public  service  was  arbitrarily  admin- 
istered; a  country  whose  population  had  been  de- 
creasing by  reason  of  these  factional  wars,  and 
whose  once  productive  farms  were  on  the  road  to 
ruin.  Political  parties,  divided  upon  important  ques- 
tions of  governmental  policy,  did  not  exist.  Two 
political  factions,  one  with  headquarters  at  Gra- 
nada, the  other  at  Leon,  pretended  to  govern  the 
country,  each  under  a  different  constitution.  There 
was  no  government  in  the  better  sense  of  the  word 
at  that  time;  the  people  were  divided  into  clans, 
which  had  no  further  significance  than  attachment 
to  the  ambitions  of  a  chieftain ;  there  was  no  peace, 
no  tranquility,  no  security  of  person  or  property;  a 
man  was  liable  to  be  shot  at  any  moment  for  being 
a  traitor  to  one  faction  or  another;  the  collection  of 
revenue  was  nothing  more  than  a  process  of  garrot- 
ing  and  bleeding.  And,  to  be  faithful  to  the  truth 
of  history,  Walker's  methods  of  government  did  not 
rise  much  above  those  theretofore  prevailing.  In 
carrying  out  his  plan  for  supplanting  the  Spaniard 
with  the  Anglo-Saxon,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  confis- 
cate and  sell  to  his  friends  the  estates  of  his  political 
enemies.  Even  a  distinguished  United  States  Sena- 
tor, who  came  to  Nicaragua  to  advise  with  him, 
seemed  to  find  it  not  inconsistent  with  his  estimate 


12  Introductory. 

of  his  high  position  to  bid  in  a  valuable  cocoa  haci- 
enda at  a  figure  much  below  its  true  value. 

The  expulsion  of  Walker  was  the  turning  point 
in  the  history  of  Nicaragua.  From  that  time  until 
1893,  the  country  had  a  stable  government,  and,  in 
the  main,  an  honest  one.  The  people  remained  at 
peace  with  themselves  and  with  their  neighbors. 
During  these  years  much  land  was  brought  under 
cultivation;  many  large  coffee  farms  were  opened 
and  planted;  modern  machinery  brought  in  for  pre- 
paring the  berry  for  market;  sugar  plantations  suc- 
cessfully established,  and  public  roads  constructed. 
A  railroad  which,  in  connection  with  steamers  on 
the  lakes  and  the  San  Juan  river,  provides  a  public 
transit  across  the  continent,  was  built  and  equipped 
by  the  government  under  President  Cardenas.  A 
free-school  system  founded  upon  the  general  plan  of 
free  schools  in  the  United  States,  has  been  estab- 
lished. Religious  liberty  has  been  secured  under 
the  administration  of  President  Zelaya.  A  mail 
service  is  now  managed  by  the  government,  and  all 
parts  of  the  Republic  are  fairly  served.  Telegraphs 
and  telephones  connect  the  principal  towns,  both 
managed  by  the  government,  and  quite  reasonable 
rates  are  secured. 

Managua,  the  capital,  has  grown  from  an  Indian 
village  to  a  city  of  good  buildings  and  considerable 
commerce;  the  production  of  coffee  has  increased 
from  nothing  to  the  value  of  nearly  $2,000,000;  the 
exports  of  bananas  have  kept  a  good  race  with  those 


pjp  PH 


Introductory.  13 

of  coffee.  Nicaragua  cocoa  has  acquired  a  world- 
wide reputation  for  its  high  quality  and  delicious 
flavor.  The  Menier  Brothers,  of  Paris,  it  will  be 
remembered  by  visitors  to  the  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion at  Chicago,  made  a  great  advertisement  of  their 
10,000  acres  model  cocoa  plantation  in  this  country. 
The  Nicaragua  devotee  of  chocolate  will  not  hesitate 
to  pay  one  dollar  a  pound  for  the  home  product  in 
preference  to  accepting  the  cocoa  sometimes  im- 
ported from  South  America  and  offered  at  one-half 
that  price.  You  can  depend  upon  his  judgment,  or 
rather,  that  of  his  wife,  as  to  the  quality  of  cocoa. 
In  the  quality  of  its  coffee,  Nicaragua  is  equally  for- 
tunate. An  Englishman,  proprietor  of  a  1,500  haci- 
enda, claimed,  in  a  recent  conversation  with  me, 
that  as  good  coffee  is  grown  in  that  country  as  either 
the  Java  or  Mocha  of  commerce.  Not  being  an  ex- 
pert in  coffee,  I  do  not  vouch  for  this  statement,  but 
many  other  persons  do  claim  for  the  Nicaraguan  pro- 
duct  a  very  high  grade.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  aver- 
age coffee  planter  in  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Eica  con- 
siders himself  in  poor  luck  if  he  fails  to  realize  out  of 
his  crop  twenty-five  per  cent,  to  thirty  per  cent,  net, 
on  the  money  invested  in  his  farm  and  machinery 
each  year.  The  Englishman  further  remarked :  "  The 
elevation  where  I  am  located  is  exactly  right  for  the 
production  of  a  big  crop  of  coffee ;  the  soil  of  loam 
and  volcanic  matter  is  deep,  apparently  inexhausti- 
ble in  fertility,  and  is  composed  of  precisely  the 
right  elements  compounded  in  correct  proportions; 


14  Introductory. 

the  rains  come  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  proper 
quantities;  the  days  are  just  hot  enough,  the  nights 
just  cool  enough  to  maks  perfect  berries;  the  sun 
and  the  clouds  perform  their  proper  functions  to  per- 
fection; the  winds  keep  the  air  pure  and  healthy.  I 
cannot  see,"  he  added,  "  wherein  I  could  suggest  an 
improvement  upon  the  job  of  the  Creator,  in  soil, 
climate  or  other  natural  conditions."  This  gentle- 
man lives  among  the  Sierras  south  of  Managua — in 
the  region  which  has  given  to  this  city  its  chief 
wealth.  Her  principal  citizens  own  coffee  farms  in 
the  same  general  section.  And  just  beyond,  where 
the  alluvial  plains  are  not  much  above  the  level  of 
the  lakes,  are  located  the  many  plantations  of  cocoa, 
extending  over  to  Rivas  and  beyond  to  the  line  of 
the  Maritime  canal. 

Around  Matagalpa,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Re- 
public, is  being  developed  an  extensive  coffee  region. 
There  any  altitude  desired  can  be  had.  The  soil  is 
as  rich  as  the  valley  of  the  Red  river  of  the  North  ; 
the  land  is  watered  by  many  mountain  streams  ; 
labor  is  abundant  at  fair  wages.  The  climate  is  de- 
lightful. It  is  equable,  seldom  reaching  80  per  cent, 
of  heat.  The  trade  winds  in  their  sweep  from  ocean 
to  ocean,  are  a  security  of  healthfulness. 

The  chief  banana  development  for  commercial 
purposes  is  in  what  is  known  as  the  Musquito  Terri- 
tory. The  Escondido  river  is  navigable  for  ocean 
steamers  some  sixty  miles  above  Bluefields.  On 
both  sides  of  this  river  and  on  up  its  branches  for 


Introductory.  15 

many  miles  further,  bananas  in  sufficient  quantities 
to  load  many  ships  each  month  of  the  year  are 
grown,  which  are  marketed  in  the  States. 

There  are  yet  in  Nicaragua  thousands  of  square 
miles  of  lands  suited  to  the  culture  of  bananas, 
coffee,  cocoa,  sugar,  rubber  and  rice,  still  covered 
with  deep,  dark,  almost  impenetrable  forests.  As  in 
Walker's  day  there  are  thousands  of  natives  still 
living  in  groups  of  huts,  thatched  with  palms,  sur- 
rounded by  patches  of  corn,  beans  and  plantains, 
who,  philosophers  in  their  way,  think  it  better  to  en- 
joy life  than  to  die  rich.  They  prefer  cock-fighting 
to  labors  of  the  field;  and,  so  long  as  their  daily 
wants  are  supplied,  the  morrow  may  care  for  itself. 
Generous,  indolent,  good-natured  and  improvident, 
they  are  true  children  of  this  sensuous  clime,  where 
open-handed  nature  would  shame  a  grasping  race. 
Missionaries  would  persuade  them  that  man  was 
made  to  labor  and  to  mourn,  but  they  prefer  to  loaf 
and  to  laugh.  There  is  a  flavor  of  Orientalism,  a 
southern  luxuriousness,  a  more  than  ordinary  love 
of  the  bright  and  beautiful,  among  the  race.  Per- 
haps, in  the  lower  classes,  it  touches  the  line  of  bar- 
baric taste ;  but  it,  nevertheless,  exists,  and  as  refine- 
ment and  education  elevate,  it  develops  into  artistic 
qualities.  No  home  is  so  humble  as  to  be  without 
flowers  ;  few  women  so  poor  as  to  be  without  a, 
bright-colored  "rebozo"  about  their  shoulders,  even 
though  they  have  little  additional  apparel.  Not- 
withstanding their  lack  of  fondness  for  work,  the 


16  Introductory. 

men  are  many  grades  superior  to  the  universal 
tramp  with  whom  civilization  is  now  contending. 
Each  succeeding  year  a  greater  number  of  natives 
join  the  ranks  of  labor  in  the  coffee  4and  banana 
fields.  And  year  by  year  a  greater  number  of  the 
young  men  of  the  country  go  abroad  to  school  or  to 
travel,  and  come  back  with  more  liberal  and  progres- 
sive ideas,  with  new  ambitions,  and  with  these  a 
greater  fondness  for  American  push  and  American 
progress.  No  longer  do  the  intelligent  people  believe 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  was  behind 
Walker  in  his  raid  or  that  the  people  of  the  Republic 
of  the  North  desire  either  to  conquer  or  annex  them. 

When  we  reflect  upon  the  condition  in  which  the 
people  of  Spanish  America  were  at  the  close  of  their 
struggle  for  independence  ;  in  what  dense  ignorance 
they  had  been  kept  by  their  bestial  oppressors;  with 
what  degrading  superstitions  the  latter  had  filled 
their  minds;  with  what  barbarity  they  had  been 
driven,  robbed  and  murdered,  we  may  well  be  aston- 
ished at  the  progress  they  have  made  rather  than  be 
disappointed  that  they  have  not  done  better. 

The  Nicaraguans  look  forward  to  the  building  of 
the  Maritime  canal  to  bring  capital  and  enterprise 
to  develop  their  lands.  They  have  looked  for  the 
coming  of  this  savior  for,  lo  !  these  many  years. 
Squier  tells  of  an  old  lady  who,  as  long  as  1848,  in 
trying  to  sell  him  a  hut  and  ground  on  the  banks  of 
picturesque  Managua  lake  for  the  modest  sum  of 
$100,  offering  to  throw  in  her  two  plump  daughters, 


Introductory.  17 

added  :  "  Los  Norte  Americanos  are  building  a  canal, 
and  in  a  few  months  the  property  will  be  worth  four 
times  that  money!'*  Another  writer  says:  "Its 
inhabitants,  high  and  low,  have  been  praying  in  all 
tunes  of  their  musical  language  to  all  the  saints  in 
the  calendar,  '  Ojala  que  venga  el  canal/  and  with  it 
redemption  from  existing  conditions.  And  when  the 
long  expected  Messiah  came  they  bound  him  hands 
and  feet  and  cried  '  crucify  Him.' ':  But  I  believe  the 
Nicaraguans  will  give  the  canal  a  genuine  welcome. 

Desiring  to  gather  from  intelligent  native  citizens 
of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica  and  from  the  surviving 
contemporaries  of  Gen.  William  Walker  some  im- 
pressions of  his  personal  appearance,  habits,  and 
career  in  Central  America,  as  remembered  by  them, 
and  to  ascertain  what  measure  of  courage  and  ability 
they  now  accord  him,  after  a  lapse  of  forty  years,  I 
questioned  several  in  person  and  wrote  to  others. 

The  first  answer  I  received  by  mail  was  from  an 
American  who  came  to  Nicaragua  with  Walker,  and 
is  a  highly  respected  and  successful  business  man 
there  at  this  time.  "  A  comrade  and  friend  of  Gen. 
Walker,  it  would  be  an  agreeable  task  for  me  to  tell 
you  about  this  remarkable  man.  In  my  youthful 
enthusiasm  I  thought  our  chief  was  a  hero,  and 
though  in  after  years  I  learned  to  judge  his  character 
more  dispassionately  I  have  no  reason  to  change  my 
general  estimate  of  him.  He  was  probably  the 
greatest  of  all  the  soldiers  of  fortune." 

From  others  I  gather  that,  in  personal  appearance, 


18  Introductory. 

Walker  was  tall  and  handsome,  with,  a  muscular 
though  slender  frame  and  a  commanding  figure.  His 
forehead  was  prominent,  his  lips  firm,  his  big  grey 
eyes  keen  and  penetrating,  and  his  well-set  jaws  in- 
dicated decision  of  character.  His  mind  was  active, 
alert,  and  exceedingly  vigorous.  In  manner  he  was 
dignified  and  calm,  suave,  and  winning ;  in  action 
self-possessed  and  deliberate  ;  in  speech  easy,  fluent, 
and  forceful.  While  he  made  no  pretense  to  oratory, 
he  had  a  faculty  of  stirring  the  souls  of  his  followers 
and  swaying  the  multitude  when  he  addressed  them. 
While  kind  to  aH  and  merciful  to  prisoners,  he  was 
strict  in  discipline,  scrupulous  in  the  observance  of 
law,  and  stern  in  the  enforcement  of  military  decrees. 
His  courage  was  unquestioned.  He  flinched  from 
no  duty  ;  he  evaded  no  responsibility.  He  was  an 
ambitious,  restless,  daring  man,  but  not  a  successful 
one.  By  turns  he  had  been  doctor,  lawyer,  jour- 
nalist, politician,  a  military  leader  in  an  expedition 
into  Mexico,  prior  to  his  campaign  in  Nicaragua,  and 
he  was  yet  a  young  man.  He  was  a  man  of  genius. 
His  imagination  was  a  gem  of  the  first  water.  But 
I  am  impressed  with  the  belief  that  not  a  majority 
of  those  whose  opportunities  of  judging  were  best 
would  award  to  Walker  the  possession  of  the  higher 
qualities  of  a  statesman  or  a  military  chieftain.  At 
least,  he  did  not  exhibit  the  breadth  of  knowledge, 
the  prudence,  the  sagacity,  the  calm,  clear  vision 
and  force — that  combination  of  qualities  which  go  to 
equip  a  man  for  every  emergency.  But  who  can 
say  that  success  were  possible  under  any  leadership  ? 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


PAGE8 

INTRODUCTORY 8-18 

GENERAL  WILLIAM  WALKER,  OR  THE  WAR  OF 
THE  FILIBUSTERS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Picturesque  Nicaragua 27-38 

CHAPTER  II. 

Descent  of  Walker  upon  Nicaragua — "  La  Falange  Ameri- 
cana "—Repulse  at  Rivas,  June  29,  1855— Defeats  Gar- 
diola  September  3,  1855 '. . .  39-48 

CHAPTER  IH. 

Granada  captured  by  a  coup  ffaudace,  October  13,  1855 — 
Treaty  of  October  23rd — Provisional  Government — Don 
Patricio  Rivas,  President;  Walker,  Commander-in-Chief,  49-58 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Costa  Rica  declares  war — A  new  election  decreed — Walker 
becomes  Dictator — Rivas  and  Jerez  abandon  Leon  and 
proceed  to  Chinandega— Central  American  alliance  against 
Walker— First  battle  of  Masaya,  October  13, 1856— Second 
battle  of  Masaya,  November  15,  1856 59-82 


22  Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER   V. 

PAGE 
Abandonment  of  the  Occident — Defence  of  the  Guadalupe — 

"Aqui  fue  Granada" — Spencer  on  his  raft — The  Transit 
closed — The  Allies  close  around  Walker  at  Rivas — He 
surrenders  to  Captain  Davis  of  the  United  States  war- 
schooner,  Saint  Mary,  May  1, 1857 83-104 

CHAPTER  VI. 

"Walker  makes  another  attempt  against  Nicaragua — Is  ar- 
rested and  brought  back  by  Commodore  Paulding,  of  the 
United  States  Navy — Is  tried  for  a  violation  of  American 
Neutrality  laws  and  acquitted — His  descent  with  ninety 
followers  upon  Truxillo,  August  6,  1860,  in  Honduras — 
His  surrender  to  Captain  Salmon,  of  the  British  ship 
Icarus — Is  delivered  over  to  the  Hondurans  and  con- 
demned to  death  by  General  Don  Mariano  Alvarez — His 
death  on  the  fatal  "Cauquette" — Buried  in  the  Campo 
Santo  of  Truxillo 105-118 

THE   NICARAGUAN   CANAL. 

Introductory  note 121 

Nicaraguan  Canal , 123-194 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 197-216 


ILLUSTRATIONS, 


PAGES 

1.  WILLIAM  WALKER FRONTISPIECE. 

2.  MAP  OF  NICARAGUA 2-3 

3.  A  COFFEE- YARD  IN  MANAGUA 12-13 

4.  THE  PRINCIPAL  STREET  IN  GREYTOWN 30-31 

5.  A  WATER-CART  IN  RIVAS 42-43 

6.  PEON'S  CABIN,  BREAD-FRUIT  AND  COCOANUT  PALM.  . . .  54-55 

7.  SCENE  ON  SAN  JUAN  RIVER 66-67 

8.  RUINS  OF  AN  ANCIENT  CHURCH,  GRANADA 78-79 

9.  MARKET  PLACE,  GRANADA 90-91 

10.  GARDEN  SCENE  IN  GRANADA 102-103 

11.  CEMETERY  IN  GRANADA 114-115 

12.  CASTILLO,  SAN  JUAN  RIVER 130-131 

13.  THE  BREAKWATER  AT  GREYTOWN — LOOKING  SEAWARD.   144-145 

14.  RAILROAD  THROUGH  THE  SWAMP  BACK  OF  GREYTOWN.  .   158-159 

15.  DREDGES  WORKING  IN  CANAL— LOOKING  WESTWARD  ..  172-173 

16.  RAILROAD  BRIDGE  ACROSS  BENARD  CREEK 186-186 


WAR  OF  THE  FILIBUSTERS, 


GENERAL  WILLIAM  WALKER, 

OR 

THE  WAR  OF  THE  FILIBUSTERS 


CHAPTER  I. 

PICTURESQUE    NICARAGUA. 

THE  student  of  American  history  finds  in  the  con- 
quest of  Nicaragua,  by  William  Walker,  the  fili- 
buster, a  startling  episode  in  the  progress  of  a 
country  upon  which  the  eyes  of  civilized  America 
are  now  turned  as  upon  the  most  interesting  spot 
on  the  continent — perhaps  in  the  world. 

The  peculiar  circumstance  which  attracts  this 
interest  was  doubtless  that  which  then  directed 
Walker's  selection  in  the  choice  of  a  republic  in 
which  to  inaugurate  his  scheme  for  the  "  regeneration 
of  Latin  America." 

This  all  important  circumstance  is  the  fact  that  here 
is,  so  to  speak,  the  waist  of  the  continent,  capable  of 
being  spanned  by  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

At  the  time  of  Walker's  venture,  Cornelius  Van- 
derbilt,  sometimes  called  Commodore  Vanderbilt, 
had  conceived  and  executed  a  transit  across  the  ter- 
ritory of  Nicaragua  for  travel  and  transportation. 
What  was  known  as  the  "  Overland  Route,"  from 

[27] 


28  Nicaragua. 

Washington,  say,  to  California,  was  a  primitive  con- 
ception, almost  like  Hannibal's  crossing  the  Alps. 
Jefferson  Davis  might,  without  impropriety,  be 
called  the  father  of  the  Pacific  railroads.  In  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  he  was  the  pioneer  ;  and 
as  Secretary  of  War,  he  ordered  a  survey  to  deter- 
mine the  best  route  for  constructing  such  a  railway, 
which  he  regarded  as  a  military  necessity. 

When  Walker  conceived  his  dream  of  redeeming 
Nicaragua,  there  was  prevalent  in  the  United  States 
a  doctrine,  the  outgrowth  of  over-prosperity,  called 
"Manifest  Destiny."  To  thoughtful  persons,  given 
to  tracing  the  genesis  and  progress  of  ideas,  nothing 
could  excite  more  decided  interest  than  this  sudden 
frenzy  in  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  annex 
the  remainder  of  the  continent — especially  when  we 
consider  that  they  were  just  on  the  verge  of  a  life- 
and-death  struggle  to  hold  on  to  what  they  had 

The  doctrine  of  Manifest  Destiny  is  supposed  to 
have  an  accredited  father  in  one  of  the  greatest  of 
our  party  leaders — Stephen  A.  Douglas. 

I  prefer  to  have  it  stated  in  the  language  of  a 
statesman  now  living,  and  whose  voice  is  still  poten- 
tial in  the  conduct  of  public  affairs.  Succinctly, 
here  is  the  doctrine; 

"  Examine  your  maps,  commence  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
trace  along  down  through  the  waters  of  the  bay  of  Vera  Cruz,  around 
that  high  headland  of  Yucatan,  down  through  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
across  the  Tropic  of  Cancer  into  the  Gulf  of  Darien ;  cross  the  Isth- 
mus there  into  the  Gulf  of  Panama,  follow  up  the  Pacific  coast 
through  twenty-two  degrees  of  latitude  to  the  boundary  line  of  the 


Nicaragua.  29 

treaty  of  1854,  and  all  within  those  limits  is  fastened  to  the  interests 
and  wrapped  up  in  the  destiny 'Of  American  institutions  by  the  great 
God  whose  hand  shapes  the  continents  of  the  earth,  and  scoops  out 
its  oceans,  gulfs,  and  harbors.  The  great  law  of  self-defence  and 
national  security,  a  law  of  nations  paramount  to  all  other  laws,  calls 
imperatively  for  the  practical  recognition  of  this  fact  in  the  diplomacy 
and  legislation  of  the  Government.  The  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
on  its  northern  and  eastern  coast  now  wash  the  borders  of  five  States 
of  the  Union,  and  its  tide  rises  to  the  wharf  of  the  commercial  metro- 
polis of  the  South.  Over  on  the  opposite  side  lie  the  distracted 
States  of  Mexico,  and  lower  down  those  of  .Central  America.  They 
would  constitute  an  easy  acquisition  to  any  European  power  with 
sufficient  boldness  to  defy  the  Monroe  policy  of  this  Government, 
and  from  that  line  of  coast  the  hostile  armaments  of  all  Europe 
could  be  equipped  in  sight  of  American  soil.  If  the  American  Union 
shall  be  preserved,  its  wisest  statesmen  will  be  the  first  to  look 
steadily  and  boldly  to  these  facts,  and  to  shape  the  policy  of  the 
nation  toward  its  lawful  and  inevitable  expansion."  * 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  cult  of  "  Manifest  Des- 
tiny," as  portrayed  by  a  western  statesman  of  that 
era.  The  absorption  of  the  Continent. 

That  Walker,  when  he  started  out,  was  a  disciple 
of  this  school,  seems  manifest. 

Fortunately,  he  was  a  literary  man,  sometime 
editor  of  a  Democratic  newspaper.  A  writer  of  rare 
lucidity  and  vigor.  After  escaping  from  Nicaragua, 
he  published  "  The  War  in  Nicaragua,"  and  we  have 
thus  a  singularly  full  and  detailed  account  of »  his 
adventures,  and  the  aims  and  ambitions  which  in- 
spired them.  Except  for  the  accidental  good  for- 
tune which  placed  this  rare  volume,  now  out  of 
print,  in  my  hands,  I  should  never  have  undertaken 


*  Senator  Voorhees. 


30  Nicaragua. 

the  task  before  me,  unless  I  had  gone  to  Nicaragua 
and  possessed  myself  of  the  information  contained 
in  the  files  of  his  organ — "  El  Nicaragua  en  se  " — 
established  by  him  in  Nicaragua,  and  conducted 
under  his  auspices. 

Walker  has  furnished  us  with  the  data  which 
alone  can  justify  a  biography — namely,  what  did  the 
hero  himself  say  and  do  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
life-work?  These  actions  and  sayings  constitute  the 
mirror  in  which,  as  in  a  camera,  is  photographed 
the  individual.  Whatever  is  received  at  second  hand, 
is  open  to  suspicion. 

I  have  suggested  one  consideration  that  determined 
the  point  which  Walker  selected  as  best  for  his  in- 
vasion, namely  the  inter-oceanic  highway  which  the 
Accessory  Transit  Company  had  established  across 
the  Isthmus  from  Greytown  or  San  Juan  del  Norte, 
on  the  Atlantic  or  Caribbean  Sea,  to  San  Juan  del 
Sur,  on  the  Pacific,  a  distance  something  less  than 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles.  Its  route  lay 
through  the  San  Juan  river  and  lake  Nicaragua, 
along  the  southern  border  of  the  Republic,  adjoin- 
ing her  neighbor,  the  Eepublic  of  Costa  Rica.  At 
an  early  day,  after  their  independence,  these  Central 
American  States,  Honduras,  Guatamala,  San  Salva- 
dor, Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  had  welded  them^ 
selves  together  in  a  Federal  Republic  modeled  after 
their  more  powerful  neighbor  of  the  north.  The 
result  of  federation,  however,  was  only  discord  and 
confusion,  and  secession  and  disintegration  soon 


Nicaragua.  31 

followed,  until  in  1855  when  Walker  made  his  de- 
scent, not  a  vestige  of  the  Confederation  remained. 

As  late  as  1839,  there  seemed  to  be  left  in  Central 
America  some  shadow  of  Federal  authority.  John 
L.  Stevens,  the  celebrated  traveller,  it  appears, 
was  engaged  in  chasing  this  phantom  upon  some 
mysterious  mission  for  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  the  nature  of  which  he  fails  to  dis- 
close. 

The  problems  presented  to  humanity  and  civiliza- 
tion by  Tropical  America  are  replete  with  interest, 
and  full  of  difficulty.  The  physical  conditions  of 
nature,  have  not  these  a  mysterious  and  controlling 
influence  over  the  character  of  the  inhabitants? 
over  the  institutions  of  the  country — over  its  pro- 
gress and  destiny? 

Where  volcanic  peaks,  now  dormant,  now  active, 
answer  to  each  other,  through  the  heart  of  a  tropical 
region,  which  is  shaken  also,  by  corresponding  or 
consequential  seismatic  vibrations  ;  is  not  the  heart 
of  man  there  subject  to  like  eruptive  and  violent 
demonstrations?  Do,  or  do  not,  Rome  and  Syra- 
cuse from  out  their  ruins  visible  from  Vesuvius,  and 
overlooked  by  Etna,  speak  a  language  akin  to  that  of 
Leon  and  Granada,  dominated  as  they  are  by  the 
smoking  heights  of  Mombacho  and  Masaya? 

Humboldt,  in  describing  these  very  regions,  stand- 
ing amid  the  overwhelming  majesty  of  Nature  and 
the  Eternal  Summer  of  organic  life,  points  out 
the  great  advantages  which  the  inhabitants  of  the 


32  Nicaragua. 

United  States  have  over  the  Spanish  Americans. 
He  then  proceeds  to  remark  :  "  Internal  dissensions 
are  chiefly  to  be  dreaded  in  regions  where  civiliza- 
tion is  but  slightly  rooted,  and  where,  from  the 
influence  of  climate,  forests  may  soon  regain  their 
empire  over  cleared  lands  if  their  culture  be  aban- 
doned." 

Let  us  devote  our  attention  for  a  moment  to  Pic- 
turesque Nicaragua.  Of  the  Central  American  Re- 
publics, she  is  the  largest.  According  to  Mr.  Squier, 
her  area,  including  the  disputed  Mosquito  Coast,  is 
about  60,000  square  miles.  The  hand-book  of  Ame- 
rican Republics  (1891)  places  it,  in  round  numbers, 
at  50,000,  excluding  such  disputed  territory.  This 
is  14,000  miles  less  in  extent  than  the  two  Virginias. 

There  are  two  distinct  geographical  divisions  ;  the 
Western,  lying  upon  and  encircled  by  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  the  Eastern,  girdled  by  the  Atlantic  and 
its  arm,  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

The  Western  division  is  essentially  tropical,  while 
the  Northern  and  Eastern  division  displays  many 
characteristics  of  the  temperate  zone. 

It  is  the  Western  or  Pacific  coast  that  we  shall 
have  to  traverse,  in  considering  the  invasion  of  Gen- 
eral Walker.  From  the  Bay  of  Fonseca  and  the  mag- 
nificent harbor  of  Realejo,  on  the  Pacific,  southward 
to  San  Juan  del  Sur,  and  thence  across  a  narrow 
strip  of  land  to  Rivas  and  Virgin  Bay,  on  the  Gulf 
of  Nicaragua,  the  operations  of  Walker  were  confined. 

Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  on  the  Western  or  Pa- 


Nicaragua.  33 

cific  side  only  was  the  essential  statehood  of  Nicara- 
gua embraced. 

At  that  date  (1855),  she  had  five  distinct  depart- 
ments, the  Meridional,  Oriental,  Occidental,  the  Sep- 
tentrional of  Matagalpa,  and  Septentrional  of  Sego- 
via;* these  departments  were  subdivided  into  dis- 
tricts for  municipal  purposes.  The  districts  were 
named  from  the  principal  towns  therein  respectively 
situated.  Thus,  we  had  Leon,  Granada,  and  Kivas 
on  the  Pacific  side,  and  Matagalpa  and  Segoria  in  the 
Northern  department. 

It  was  principally  between  these  cities,  Leon, 
Granada,  and  Rivas  that  Walker  operated.  Leon 
was  farthest  north,  towards  Honduras,  and  Rivas 
farthest  south  towards  Costa  Rica ;  while  Granada 
was  situated  on  the  Lake  between  the  two,  being 
sixty-five  miles  south  of  Leon,  and  about  thirty-five 
or  forty  north  of  Rivas.  The  population  of  Granada 
was  put  at  15,000,  that  of  Leon  at  35,000,  and  of 
Rivas  at  4,000  inhabitants.  The  port  of  Realejo,  on 
the  Pacific,  was  about  fifteen  miles  southwest  of  Leon, 
while  that  of  San  Juan  del  Suf  was  about  half  that 
distance  from  Rivas  ;  the  distance  between  the  two 
harbors  coastwise  being  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles.  Immediately  north  of  this  Pe- 
ninsula, which  stretched  from  the  Bay  of  Fonseca  to 
San  Juan  del  Sur,  lay  the  two  magnificent  inter-com- 


*  There  was  likewise  the  department  of  Guanacosta,  lying  south  of  the 
San  Juan  river,  much  of  which  was  disputed  territory  between  the  adjacent 
republics— Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua. 
3 


34  Nicaragua. 

municating  lakes,  Nicaragua  and  Managua,  at  an  av- 
erage of  about  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  waters  of  these  lakes 
are  drained  by  the  river  San  Juan,  commencing  at 
San  Carlos  on  Lake  Nicaragua,  and  emptying  into 
the  Caribbean  Sea  at  the  Eastern  port,  called  San 
Juan  del  Norte.  This  was  the  route  of  the  Vander- 
bilt  Transit  Company,  viz  :  from  San  Juan  del  Norte 
by  the  San  Juan  River  to  Fort  San  Carlos,  on  Lake 
Nicaragua,  thence  across  the  lake  to  Virgin's  Bay, 
and  thence  across  a  narrow  strip  of  land  to  San  Juan 
del  Sur — the  total  distance  being  something  less  than 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles. 

It  was  this  Isthmus,  engirdled  by  the  Pacific  on 
the  west  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  of 
seacoast,  and  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  two  great 
Lakes,  that  Walker  selected  as  the  scene  of  his  ope- 
rations in  Central  America.  Sentinelled  on  the  one 
side  by  a  chain  of  volcanic  peaks,  many  of  them 
wreathed  in  smoke,  and  shaken  on  the  other  by  the 
pulsations  of  the  mighty  Pacific,  the  intervening 
country  is  as  full  of  natural  beauty  and  as  prolific  in 
the  productions  of  the  soil,  as  any  similar  spot  on 
the  continent. 

It  is  essentially  an  equinoctial  region,  and  charac- 
terized by  the  marked  features  of  tropical  America. 
For  summer,  it  has  the  wet  season,  from  May  to  Oc- 
tober, and  for  winter,  the  dry,  extending  from  Octo- 
ber to  May.  The  atmosphere,  observes  Walker,  is  a 
fluid  altogether  different  from  the  atmosphere  of 


Nicaragua.  35 

northern  climates — as  if  a  thin  and  vapory  exhala- 
tion of  opium,  soothing  and  exhilarating  by  turns, 
was  being  mixed  at  intervals  with  the  common  ele- 
ments of  the  air. 

When,  on  his  march  from  the  Occidental  Depart- 
ment to  surprise  and  capture  Rivas,  at  sunrise  the 
American  came  in  sight  of  Lake  Nicaragua.  Valle, 
a  faithful  Indian  auxiliary  and  guide,  exclaims  sim- 
ply :  "Ometepec ! " — without  other  phrase  or  emotion. 

But  Walker  was  awestruck  and  lost  in  admiration, 
as  he  beheld  the  tall  and  graceful  cone  of  the  grand 
volcano  rising  out  of  the  bosom  of  the  lake,  like  a 
giant  taking  his  siesta,  his  sides  covered  with  the 
dark  verdure  of  the  tropics — in  repose,  but  liable  to 
awaken  at  any  moment. 

Perhaps  no  equal  extent  of  the  earth's  surface, 
remarks  Mr.  Squier,  exhibits  so  many  and  such 
marked  traces  of  volcanic  action  as  that  part  of 
Nicaragua  intervening  between  its  lakes  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

All  of  the  travellers  in  this  region  describe  the 
curious  remains  of  former  volcanic  action.  In  some 
places  near  these  craters  the  ground  is  encrusted 
with  sulphur,  and  dried  and  baked  by  subterranean 
fires  ;  in  others,  there  are  orifices  from  which  steam 
rushes  out  violently,  and  with  noise  ;  in  the  nearer 
approach,  pools  or  lakes  of  dark  brown  water  are 
discovered,  with  monstrous  bubbles,  three  or  four 
feet  high.  In  fine,  it  required  no  remarkable  stretch 
of  imagination  on  the  part  of  the  natives  when  they 


36  Nicaragua. 

named  the  crater  of  Mt.  Masaya  "  the  Hell  of 
Masaya,"  while  they  styled  the  smaller,  and  extinct, 
though  still  smoking  orifices,  "  Infernillos  "  or  Di- 
minutive Hells. 

The  tropical  vegetation  so  often  described  by  trav- 
ellers, presents  the  same  general  features  in  all 
the  regions  of  equatorial  America  in  such  manner 
that  when  we  follow  Stephens  (1839)  and  Ford 
(1891)  in  Nicaragua,  we  seem  to  be  going  up  the 
same  streams  ascended  by  Agassiz  (1868),  in  Brazil. 
A  narrow  opening  with  high  perpendicular  banks, 
covered  with  bushes,  wild  flowers  and  moss,  roofed 
over  with  branches  of  large  trees,  sometimes  inter- 
lacing from  the  opposite  banks,  and  always  covered 
with  lianes — vines — more  or  less  luxuriant  in  growth. 

The  peninsula  we  are  considering  produces  all  the 
staples  of  the  tropics — coffee,  sugar,  cacao  (chocolate- 
nut),  bananas,  and  the  rest.  Columbus  skirted  along 
the  eastern  coast,  and  with  a  geographical  instinct 
was  persuaded  that  there  was  a  connecting  water- 
way to  the  Pacific. 

Lord  Nelson,  then  captain,  occupied  San  Juan, 
and  captured  the  castle  by  that  name  from  the 
Spaniards  in  1780. 

Here  are  monuments  and  idols  of  the  pre-Colum- 
bian era,  and  evidently  of  Aztec  origin  ;  and  here, 
likewise,  are  the  ruins  of  Mooresque  Castillian 
structures,  as  melancholy  as  those  of  Babylon  or 
Rome. 

Here  are  ancient  cities  whose  streets  are  paved 


Nicaragua.  37 

with  the  marble  of  their  own  decay,  spacious  plazas, 
lofty  fa£ades,  with  turrets  and  spires  gorgeously 
ornamented  with  stuccoed  figures,  magnificent  cathe- 
drals, arched  and  covered  bridges,  stately  palaces — 
all  now  ruins ! 

Ah  !  but  the  laboring  peasant,  the  simple  hus- 
bandman, paid  for  these  in  their  day  and  genera- 
tion just  as  the  humble  laborer  and  sturdy  plough- 
man are  paying  for  many  an  empty  pageant  of  to-day. 

Such,  then,  in  brief  and  blurred  outline  was  the 
Picturesque  Physical  Nicaragua  of  1855  ;  a  country 
in  which  the  forces  of  nature  agitate  themselves  in 
an  extraordinary  manner,  superinduced,  no  doubt, 
by  their  proximity  to  the  sun. 

In  1855,  according  to  Squier,  the  population  of 
Nicaragua  was  300,000,  distributed  as  follows  : 
Whites,  30,000  ;  Negroes,  18,000  ;  Indians,  96,000  ; 
Meztizos,  156,000. 

The  Meztizos  (which  means  in  reality  the  Amalga- 
mated races),  it  will  be  seen  outnumbered  all  the 
individual  types  combined.  The  pure  Indians  were 
largely  preponderant  in  the  northern  departments. 
Some  of  them  constitute  a  hardy,  unconquered  race 
of  people,  resisting  and  defying  the  domination  of 
the  Spaniards,  while  adopting  their  religion.  No- 
thing can  convey  to  our  minds  a  more  realistic  con- 
ception of  Nicaragua  of  1855  than  to  suppose  that 
northern  New  York,  for  example,  embracing  half  of 
the  State,  were  inhabited  by  a  race  of  unconquered 
Indians  superior  in  numbers  to  the  white  population. 


38  Nicaragua. 

Howeyer,  these  unconquered  savages,  Indian 
bravos,  as  they  were  called,  were  beyond  the  region 
which  we  necessarily  penetrate  in  the  history  of 
Walker.  Walker's  description  of  the  native  Indians 
in  the  latter  region  answers  very  accurately  to  that 
given  by  Agassiz  of  those  he  saw  in  Brazil.  They 
are  ignorant,  simple,  docile  and  easily  imposed 
upon.*  Walker  was  so  impressed  by  these  admir- 
able qualities,  that  as  we  shall  see,  he  proposed  to 
utilize  them  by  reducing  these  Indians  to  slavery. 

f '  The  people  of  Nicaragua  (says  Stephens)  are  said  to  be  the  worst 
in  Central  America,  and  they  are  proportionately  devout,  "t 

Another  traveller  tells  us  they  are  much  darker  in 
complexion  than  those  of  Costa  Rica.  Mr.  Ford, 
however,  dwells  enthusiastically  upon  the  honesty 
of  the  men  and  the  homely  virtues  of  the  women  as 
witnessed  by  him  in  San  Juan.  Not  even  the  hack- 
men  in  that  city  are  sufficiently  civilized  to  cheat 
the  tourist ;  a  deficiency  which  certainly  cannot  be 
attributed  to  the  cabmen  of  Washington  or  London.  J 

Upon  the  whole,  I  think  we  may  conclude  that 
the  native  population  with  which  Walker  had  to 
deal  was  about  the  same  in  character  as  that  of 
other  Latin-American  republics — neither  much  bet- 
ter, nor  manifestly  worse. 


*  A  journey  to  Brazil. 

+  2  Stephen's  Travels  in  Central  America,  Ac.,  19. 

J  Ford's  Tropical  Am.,  880. 


Nicaragua.  39 


CHAPTER  II. 

1854. 

DESCENT  OF  WALKER  UPON   NICARAGUA LA    FALANGE 

AMERICANA REPULSE    AT    RIVAS,  JUNE    29,   1855 

DEFEATS  GARDIOLA   SEPTEMBER  3,  1855. 

WALKER  commences  his  narrative  by  an  account 
of  his  descent  with  a  small  party  of  "  Filibusters  '' 
upon  Sonora  in  Mexico.  He  says  that  that  invasion 
was  instigated  by  a  desire  to  protect  the  inhabitants 
of  that  state  from  hostile  Indians  ;  a  proposition  so 
preposterous  and  improbable,  that  did  not  the  au- 
thor's fatal  earnestness  of  disposition  forbid,  we 
should  think  it  intended  for  a  grim  bit  of  humor.* 

His  ventures  against  Mexico  were  closed  by  his 
surrender  to  an  American  military  officer,  after  re- 
treating before  a  greatly  superior  force  of  Mexicans, 
to  whom  he  had  given  battle  at  La  Paz. 

The  last  remains  of  this  unfortunate  expedition 
reached  San  Francisco  about  the  middle  of  May, 
1854. 

After  almost  insuperable  difficulties,  Walker  and 
Cole  succeeded  in  getting  a  liberal  colonization 
grant,  under  which  three  hundred  Americans  were 
to  be  introduced  into  Nicaragua,  "and  were  to  be 
guaranteed  forever  the  privilege  of  bearing  arms." 

This  grant  was  from  D.  Francisco  Castellon,  Pro- 

»  The  War  in  Nicaragua,  22. 


40  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

visional  Director  of  Nicaragua,  and  leader  of  the 
Democratic  party.  The  republic  was,  as  usual,  in  a 
state  of  revolution,  the  Democrats  being  represented 
as  we  have  seen  by  Castellon,  and  the  Legitimists  by 
D.  Jose  Maria  Estrada. 

After  a  stormy  voyage  from  San  Francisco,  in  his 
vessel,  the  Vesta,  Walker  and  his  little  band  of  fifty- 
eight  adventurers,  armed  with  rifles  and  revolvers, 
reached  the  port  of  Realejo  on  the  10th  of  June, 
1855. 

In  the  meantime  the  fortunes  of  Castellon  had 
been  much  impaired  since  his  grant  to  Cole  and 
Walker  in  December,  1854. 

Honduras,  Costa  Rica  and  Guatamala,  having  a 
temporary  respite  from  domestic  revolution  at  home, 
were  paying  some  attention  in  a  military  way  to  the 
civil  war  in  Nicaragua. 

From  the  harbor  Walker  and  his  party  were  con- 
veyed up  the  river  five  miles  to  the  town  of  Realejo 
where  they  disembarked.  In  the  ascent  they  passed 
over  the  very  ground  trodden  by  the  great  English 
buccaneer,  Sir  Henry  Morgan.  We  may  here  pause 
to  reflect  that  the  same  England  that  acquitted  and 
knighted  her  own  free-booter  afterwards  captured 
our  American  adventurer  and  turned  him  over  to  be 
shot. 

Walker  was  received  with  open  arms  by  Castellon, 
and  the  Americans  were  invited  to  enter  his  service 
as  a  separate  corps,  to  be  called  "  La  Falange  Ameri- 
cana"— The  American  Phalanx. 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  41 

On  the  20th  of  June,  Walker  received  his  com- 
mission as  colonel  in  the  Democratic  army,  and  the 
Minister  of  War  informed  him  that  commissions 
would  issue  to  others  of  his  party  as  he  might  suggest. 

This  was  accordingly  done,  and  the  Falange  was 
organized  into  two  companies.  He  remained  inac- 
tive but  three  days,  and  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time  he  is  found  again  on  board  the  Vesta,  with  his 
Americans,  and  one  hundred  native  troops,  bound 
for  Rivas  in  the  Meridional  Department,  then  in  the 
possession  of  the  Legitimists.  The  army  of  Estrada, 
the  Legitimist,  was  commanded  by  General  Corral, 
and  that  of  Castellon,  the  Democrat,  by  General 
Munoz.  On  the  27th  of  June,  Walker  landed  at  San 
Juan  del  Sur  and  made  preparations  to  attack  Rivas. 
On  the  25th  he  captured  the  little  village  of  Tapa, 
and  on  the  29th  assaulted  Rivas.  The  Legitimists, 
with  about  500  men,  were  concentrated  in  the  Plaza, 
and  the  Americans  entered  the  town  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  houses  crowning  the  summit  of  the 
hill  of  Santa  Ursula. 

The  native  troops,  under  Colonel  Ramirez,  did 
not  support  Walker,  but  failed  to  advance.  In  the 
meantime  the  enemy  was  reinforced  by  seventy-five 
or  eighty  fresh  troops  from  San  Juan  del  Sur,  under 
Colonel  Arguello,  and  these  falling  on  Walker's 
flank  interposed  themselves  between  him  and  the 
native  Democrats,  whereupon  the  latter  inconti^ 
nently  marched  away  toward  Costa  Rica,  leaving 
Walker  to  his  fate.  The  gallant  little  band  made  a 


42  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

desperate  sally,  however,  and  made  good  their  retreat. 
The  fight  lasted  four  hours,  and  of  his  handful  of 
Americans  Walker  lost  six  killed,  and  twelve 
wounded,  of  whom  five  were  left  in  the  town,  only 
to  be  captured  and  barbarously  murdered.  The 
enemy  lost,  some  seventy  killed  and  as  many 
wounded.  Walker  had  thus  in  less  than  a  fortnight 
after  his  arrival  sailed  a  distance  of  125  miles,  and 
lost  more  than  one-fifth  of  his  small  band,  including 
some  of  his  bravest  officers — Crocker  and  Kewen — 
killed,  while  Doubleday,  Anderson,  and  De  Brissot 
were  wounded. 

On  the  30th  of  June  the  little  band,  numbering 
forty-five,  reached  San  Juan  del  Sur  in  safety,  though 
a  good  deal  the  worse  for  wear,  but  "  still  clinging  to 
their  rifles." 

The  Vesta  not  being  in  sight,  Walker  pressed 
into  service  a  Costa  Rican  schooner,  San  Jose,  and 
made  his  way  back  to  sea,  keeping  a  sharp  look-out 
for  his  own  brig,  which  he  subsequently  overtook. 

While  Walker  was  waiting  to  embark  on  the  San 
Jose,  two  irresponsible  persons,  not  connected  with 
his  command,  set  fire  to  the  barrack  of  the  Legiti- 
mists, just  vacated  by  Colonel  Arguello  when  he 
marched  to  the  assistance  of  Rivas.  One  of  these 
men  was  an  American  from  California,  and  the  other 
a  drunken  sailor  called  Sam.  Walker  having  got 
possession  of  these  men  ordered  them  to  be  shot 
without  any  form  of  trial.  Sam,  however,  escaped 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  43 

from  his  guards,  but  Dewey,  defying  Walker's  au- 
thority, was  shot  and  killed. 

Thus,  before  he  had  been  in  Nicaragua  two  weeks, 
our  adventurer  had  given  the  natives  two  signal 
illustrations  of  traits  which  characterized  his  career — 
rashness  and  cruelty.  It  must  be  admitted,  how- 
ever, that  when  subsequently  at  San  Juan  del  Sur, 
he  ordered  his  surgeon  to  treat  the  wounded  prisoners 
of  war  with  the  same  care  and  attention  bestowed 
upon  his  own  wounded,  contrary  to  the  prevailing 
Central  American  custom  of  killing  them  on  the 
spot,  Walker  taught  the  natives  a  much  more 
salutary  lesson. 

When  he  got  back  to  the  port  of  Realejo,  whence 
he  had  sailed,  he  made  an  elaborate  report  to  Cas- 
tellon  of  his  proceedings,  and  openly  accused  Gen- 
eral Mufioz,  who  had  opposed  the  expedition,  of  bad 
faith,  and  charged  that  in  deserting  Walker  at  Bivas 
Ramirez  had  behaved  treacherously  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  Mufioz.  Castellon  was  too  hard  pressed, 
however,  to  take  up  Walker's  quarrels,  and  so  he 
endeavored  to  patch  up  a  truce  between  him  and 
the  commanding  general.  The  opposing  general, 
Corral,  had  advanced  northward  from  Granada  and 
was  reported  to  have  reached  Managua  at  the  head 
of  1,000  Legitimists. 

Now,  Managua  is  but  fifteen  miles  from  Granada 
and  only  forty  from  Leon,  so  that  two  days'  forced 
march  would  bring  him  upon  the  Democratic  capi- 
tal, Walker  was  a  very  good  ally  to  have  on  hand 


44  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

in  such  an  emergency,  as  he  was  entirely  unac- 
quainted with  fear  and  given  to  exaggerating,  as 
with  the  wand  of  a  wizard,  his  own  resources.  The 
people  were  likewise  partial  to  the  Americans,  be- 
cause they  cherished  the  hope  that  their  presence 
would  ameliorate  the  horrors  of  the  press-gang,  that 
scourge  of  Tropical  America. 

The  cholera  had  now  broken  out  at  Managua,  and 
this  proved  a  more  efficient  ally  than  Walker.  If 
Corral  had  any  real  design  of  a  speedy  march  upon 
the  Democratic  capital  the  ravages  of  the  epidemic 
among  his  troops  soon  drove  him  back  to  Granada. 

Walker  had  determined  upon  another  expedition 
against  the  Meridional  Department.  His  object  was 
manifest  ;  it  was  his  fixed  policy  to  get  as  near  the 
Transit  as  possible,  in  order  to  recruit  from  the  pas- 
sengers to  and  from  California,  and  to  have  the 
means  of  easy  and  rapid  communication  with  the 
United  States.  As  a  preliminary  step,  he  gave  up 
his  colonization  grant  and  received  in  return  author- 
ity to  recruit  300  men  who  were  to  be  paid  one  hun- 
dred dollars  a  month  while  in  service,  and  a  grant  of 
five  hundred  acres  of  land  at  the  close  of  the  cam- 
paign. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  Walker  got  his 
Falange  aboard  the  Vesta  at  the  port  of  Realejo,  to- 
gether with  his  friend  Valle  alias  Chelon,  at  the 
head  of  from  160  to  170  native  recruits,  considerably 
weakened  by  desertion,  however,  and  cholera.  Valle, 
who  was  a  true  Nicaraguan,  did  not  like  to  let  such 


1855].  Nicaragua.  45 

a  fine  opportunity  for  counter-revolution  escape  him, 
and  but  for  Walker's  dissuasion  would  have  erected 
his  own  Democratic  standard,  and  the  Red  Ribbon 
of  Chelon  in  opposition  to  that  of  Castellon. 

On  the  29th  of  August,  the  Vesta  made  the  port  of 
San  Juan  del  Sur.  She  was  too  small  to  carry  all  of 
Walker's  army,  and  was  followed  by  a  "  ketch," 
(whatever  that  may  be),  containing  a  portion  of  the 
native  volunteers. 

Upon  landing  at  San  Juan  del  Sur,  Walker  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  force,  consisting  of  fifty  Ame- 
ricans and  one  hundred  and  twenty  natives;  a  num- 
ber of  the  latter,  however,  sick  with  cholera,  or 
colerin. 

From  this  period,  say  September  1st,  commenced 
a  series  of  brilliant  achievements  by  our  adventurer, 
which,  had  only  judgment  been  vouchsafed  him,  must 
have  assured  a  career  of  extraordinary  brilliancy,  if 
not  of  permanent  success. 

In  some  manner,  not  entirely  explicable,  one  Gar- 
diola,  a  professional  revolutionist,  distinguished  by 
his  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  career,  had  descended  from 
Honduras  (for  want  of  a  convenient  revolution  at 
home,  perhaps),  to  take  a  hand  in  the  civil  war  of 
Nicaragua.  When  Walker  was  in  the  Occidental 
Department,  it  was  rumored  that  Gardiola  was  in 
the  north,  and  great  apprehension  prevailed  at  Chi- 
nandega,  where  Walker  was  encamped,  of  his  de- 
scent upon  that  region.  No  sooner,  however,  does 
Walker  reach  San  Juan  del  Sur  than  Gardiola  ap- 


46  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

pears  at  Rivas,  and  leaving  there  with  six  hundred 
chosen  men;  and  learning  of  Walker's  march  to  Vir- 
gin's Bay,  the  Legitimist  captain  follows  close  upon 
him,  and  finally  coming  up  with  him  on  the  3rd  of 
September,  vigorously  attacks  him  in  the  town  of 
Virgin,  on  Lake  Nicaragua.  Walker's  disposition  of 
his  little  force  of  170  men  seems  to  have  been  admi- 
rable. He  had  now  the  advantage  of  the  barricades 
on  his  own  side,  and  the  deadly  rifles  of  the  Falange 
did  fearful  execution  among  the  advancing  Legiti- 
mists. Walker  had  his  back  to  the  Lake  and  his 
front  to  the  foe,  and  nobody,  not  even  the  natives 
under  Chelon  alias  ValU,  expecting  any  quarter  at 
the  hands  of  Gardiola,  the  struggle  was  to  the  death. 
Victory  declared  for  the  Democrats,  and  Gardiola  re- 
treated, leaving  sixty  dead  on  the  field,  while  Walker 
had  of  the  Falange  only  three  or  four  wounded  and 
none  killed,  and  of  the  natives  (who  under  the  faith- 
ful Vall6  behaved  quite  differently  from  their  conduct 
at  Rivas  in  June)  two  were  killed  and  three  wounded. 
Walker  himself  made  a  narrow  escape,  having  been 
knocked  down  by  a  spent  ball  which  struck  him  on 
the  throat.  It  was  here  that  Walker  again  exhibited 
a  civilized  example  to  the  Nicaraguans,  by  directing 
every  care  and  attention  to  be  bestowed  upon  the 
wounded  of  the  enemy  who  fell  into  his  hands,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  Gardiola  was  supposed  to 
fight  under  the  black  flag. 

On  the  afternoon  of  September  4th,  Walker  con- 
ducted his  troops  back  to  San  Juan  del  Sur,  elated  by 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  47 

victory,  and  enriched  by  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
muskets,  and  considerable  ammunition,  taken  from 
the  enemy. 

General  Munoz  (who  seems  to  have  been  a  pretty 
considerable  man,  notwithstanding  Walker's  dislike 
to  him),  had  defeated  Gardiola  at  Savce  in  the  Occi- 
dental Department,  but  had  died  of  a  wound  received 
in  the  engagement. 

And  now  Castellon,  worn  out  by  the  cares  and 
vexations  of  revolution,  succumbed  to  the  prevailing 
scourge,  just  as  Walker's  courier  arrived  with  the 
glad  tidings  of  his  victory. 

Castellon  was  a  man  of  confiding,  gentle  nature, 
much  beloved  and  respected  by  his  followers. 

He  was  succeeded  in  the  Provisional  Directorship 
by  D.  Nasario  Escoto,  being  the  senator  designated 
for  the  office  by  the  Constitution  of  1838. 

At  this  point,  in  the  outset  of  his  career,  Walker 
set  another  worthy  example  to  the  Nicaraguans. 
He  would  receive  of  native  troops  only  volunteers,  and 
refused  the  forced  levies  which  were,  and  still  are,  the 
curse  of  Latin-America.  He  discouraged  also  the 
seizure  of  private  property  by  impressment. 

The  native  troops,  therefore,  which  the  Provisional 
Director  forwarded  to  San  Juan  del  Sur  were  but 
few.  On  the  other  hand,  many  recruits — Democrats 
and  exiles — began  to  join  Walker's  standard  in  the 
Meridional  Department. 

There  was  still  another  very  bad  practice  pre- 
valent in  Nicaragua,  which  Walker  found  himself 


48  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

obliged  to  adopt,  and  that  was  forced  contributions 
from  business  men  and  traders  to  carry  on  the  cam- 
paign. While  deprecating  the  necessity,  he  excuses 
himself  by  saying  that  "  reforms  in  revenue,"  as  to 
the  method  either  of  raising  or  collecting  it,  can- 
not well  be  attempted  in  the  midst  of  war. 

The  wisdom  of  his  policy  in  establishing  himself 
in  close  proximity  to  the  Transit  now  became  appa- 
rent. 

Recruits  were  obtained  from  the  passengers  to  and 
from  California,  until  by  the  middle  of  September  he 
had  in  his  Falange  sixty  effective  men,  while  Valle, 
in  spite  of  loss  by  cholera,  had  over  two  hundred 
native  troops.  On  the  3d  of  October,  one  Col.  Charles 
Gilman,  a  companion  of  Walker  in  lower  California, 
who  had  lost  a  leg  there,  arrived  with  thirty-five 
stalwart  recruits  from  California. 

In  the  meantime  Corral  had  come  from  the  Occi- 
dental Department,  and  assumed  command  of  the 
Legitimists  at  Rivas. 


Nicaragua.  49 


CHAPTER  III. 

1855. 

GRANADA    CAPTURED   BY   A   COUP   D*AUDACE,    OCTOBER 

13,    1855 TREATY    OF    OCTOBER   23D PROVISIONAL 

GOVERNMENT DON     PATRICIO     RIVAS,     PRESIDENT  ; 

WALKER,    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 

WALKER  now  conceived  the  design  of  capturing 
Granada,  the  capitol  of  the  Legitimists,  not  for  per- 
manent occupation,  but  to  gain  vantage  ground 
whence  he  could  treat  for  peace  on  better  terms. 

Accordingly,  he  marched  to  Virgin's  Bay,  and 
there  awaited  the  arrival  of  La  Vergen,  a  steamer  of 
the  Transit  Company,  engaged  in  transporting  pas- 
sengers and  freight  across  the  Isthmus.  Notwith- 
standing the  protest  of  her  captain,  Walker  em- 
barked all  of  his  force,  and  after  employing  every 
precaution  to  conceal  his  movement  from  Corral, 
who  was  still  at  Rivas,  he  landed  his  troops  on  the 
night  of  the  twelfth  of  October,  and  early  the  next 
morning  entered  Granada.  The  Granadinos  were 
taken  completely  by  surprise,  and  although  there 
were  but  few  troops  there,  Walker  was  enabled  to 
capture  many  distinguished  adherents  and  officials 
of  the  party  of  the  Legitimists.  These,  old  Chelon, 
alias  Valle,  proposed  at  once  to  shoot,  in  retaliation 
for  a  similar  favor  the  Legitimists  had  done  to  one 
of  the  old  Indian's  brothers.  But  Walker  sternly 
interdicted  all  executions,  and  put  a  very  peremp- 


50  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

tory  stop  to  everthing  like  pillage  or  disorder.  It 
must  have  struck  the  inhabitants  that  after  all  the 
scheme  of  the  lamented  Castellon  "for  the  regenera- 
tion of  Nicaragua  by  the  introduction  of  a  new  element " 
was  beginning  to  realize  the  dream  of  a  better  civili- 
zation. 

The  United  States  minister,  Hon.  John  W.  Wheeler, 
resided  in  Granada,  and  he  consented  to  act  for 
Walker  as  one  of  a  commission  to  wait  upon  Gen. 
Corral  and  negotiate  for  terms  of  peace.  This  com- 
mission reached  Rivas  about  the  middle  of  October, 
but  found  that  Corral  had  marched  North  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  fourteenth.  This  interposition  on 
Wheeler's  part,  Corral  highly  resented,  and  the  for- 
mer returned  to  Granada  without  an  interview.  The 
other  commissioners  met  Corral  on  his  march  north- 
ward and  communicated  to  Walker  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  get  Corral  to  treat  on  any  terms  whatever. 

In  a  few  days  Walker  was  reinforced  by  a  party  of 
sixty  filibusters  from  California,  commanded  by 
Parker  H.  French  and  Col.  Birkett  D.  Fry,  the  latter 
a  veteran  of  the  Mexican  War.  These  people  came 
from  Virgin  Bay  to  Granada  in  a  vessel  belonging  to 
the  Transit  Company,  doubtless,  so  used  under  com- 
pulsion, as  had  been  "  the  Virgin  "  by  Walker.  This 
so  incensed  the  Legitimists  that  their  soldiers  com- 
mitted sundry  outrages  upon  the  American  passen- 
gers at  Rivas,  plundered  the  building  of  the  Transit 
Company,  and  from  Fort  San  Carlos  fired  upon  one 
of  the  steamers  with  fatal  effect. 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  51 

Walker  in  retaliation  for  these  outrages  ordered 
one  of  his  most  distinguished  prisoners,  Mayorga,  a 
member  of  Estrada's  cabinet,  to  be  shot,  which  order 
was  promptly  executed  on  the  Plaza  at  Granada  on 
the  twenty-second  of  October. 

This  murder  of  Mayorga  led  to  consequences  much 
more  fortunate  for  all  parties  than  could  have  been 
anticipated.  For  no  sooner  did  the  intelligence 
reach  Corral,  who  had  now  entered  Masaya,  and  was 
behind  its  barricades,  than  he  and  the  other  Legiti- 
mists, many  of  whom  had  friends  and  relatives  in 
Granada,  began  to  sue  for  peace.  Accordingly,  on 
the  twenty-third  of  October  Corral  and  Walker  agreed 
upon  the  terms.  On  the  part  of  the  Legitimists 
Corral  had  full  powers — omnimodamente — to  execute 
the  treaty,  but  on  the  part  of  the  Democrats  it  had 
to  be  sent  to  Leon  for  ratification. 

In  due  time,  however,  it  was  confirmed  at  the 
Democratic  capitol,  and  became  the  law  of  the  land. 
By  its  terms  Walker  was  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  army,  and  .all  the  other  officers  on  both  sides 
were  to  retain  their  existing  rank  and  pay.  The 
Americans  were  to  be  retained  in  the  service  of  the 
Republic,  and  the  debts  contracted  by  either  party 
were  to  be  provided  for.  At  Walker's  suggestion  the 
articles  of  the  Constitution  of  1838,  concerning  natu- 
ralization, were  to  remain  in  force.  This  must  have 
been  inserted  out  of  abundant  caution,  since  there 
was  no  suggestion  from  any  quarter  that  the  Consti- 
tution should  be  abrogated,  or  in  any  manner  im- 


52  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

paired.  The  white  and  red  ribbons  were  to  be 
thrown  aside,  and  the  troops  of  the  Republic  were 
to  wear  a  blue  ribbon  with  the  device — 

NICAKAGUA    INDEPENDIENTE. 

Don  Patricio  Rivas,  a  man  of  moderate  political 
views,  but  inclined  toward  the  Legitimists,  was  made 
Chief  Executive  under  the  new  Provisional  Govern- 
ment, to  remain  such  for  fourteen  months,  unless 
his  successor  was  sooner  elected.  The  treaty  was 
ratified  amid  great  popular  acclaim,  and  with  all  due 
solemnities  of  religion,  Walker  and  Corral  knelt  side 
by  side  and  swore  to  observe  and  cause  to  be  ob- 
served the  treaty  of  October  the  23d,  1855.  Rivas 
assumed  his  new  duties  as  Provisional  President, 
and  appointed  Corral  Minister  of  War,  and  also  Pre- 
mier, or  Chief  Minister.  On  October  31st,  General 
Jerez  arrived  from  Leon,  accompanied  by  other  pro- 
minent Democrats.  The  new  Cabinet  was  com- 
pleted, there  being  one  American  in  it,  Parker  H. 
French,  who  was  made  minister  of  Hacienda,  or,  as 
we  would  say  in  the  United  States,  Minister  of  Agri- 
culture. 

The  other  Cabinet  officers  were  Jerez,  Minister  of 
Foreign  Relations,  and  Ferrer,  Walker's  late  Prefect, 
Minister  of  Public  Credit. 

The  point  now  reached,  being  the  acme  of  Walk- 
er's fortunes,  is  an  appropriate  one  whence  to  take  a 
retrospect  of  what  he  has  accomplished.  It  is  now 
but  four  months  and  a  half  since  he  landed  at 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  53 

Realejo  in  the  Occident  a.t  the  head  of  fifty-eight 
American  adventurers,  with  nothing  in  his  pocket 
but  a  land  grant  for  colonization.  In  these  four  and 
a  half  months  he  has  invaded  the  Meridional  Depart- 
ment and  fought  two  pitched  battles,  in  the  latter  of 
which  he  signally  defeated  an  experienced  general 
of  the  Legitimist  army,  and  captured  large  stores  of 
small  arms  and  ammunition.  He  next  embarks  his 
whole  force  on  a  steamer,  which  he  runs  past  the 
enemy  and  almost  under  his  guns,  and  by  a  forced 
march  surprises  and  captures  the  capital  city  of  the 
Granadinos  without  loss  to  himself,  but  with  fatal 
damage  to  the  Legitimists,  in  the  important  stores 
and  prisoners  secured,  but  above  all  in  the  prestige 
which  he  acquired  by  such  bold,  rapid  and  success- 
ful operations.  He  finds  himself  now  at  the  head  of 
nearly  600  volunteers — American  and  native — with 
no  conscripts  and  no  traitors  in  his  ranks.  He  nego- 
tiates a  peace  whereby  he  is  made  Commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Army  of  the  Republic.  In  the  new  Pro- 
visional administration,  his  friends  preponderate  in 
the  Cabinet,  in  the  proportion  of  three  to  two.  He 
has,  moreover,  relieved  the  Transit  of  the  presence 
of  all  menace  and  obstruction,  for  even  before  the 
proclamation  of  peace  the  garrisons  at  San  Carlos 
and  Rivas  have  disappeared. 

Now,  or  never,  are  those  roseate  visions  of  a  re- 
generated Nicaragua,  to  be  redeemed  by  the  "  infu- 
sion of  the  new  element/'  and  to  lift  themselves 
above  the  horizon  of  doubt  and  incredulity.  If  our 


54  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

hero  has  the  stuff  of  which  great  men  are  moulded, 
from  the  pinnacle  now  attained,  achievements  worthy 
of  civilization  will  avouch  that  immortality,  which 
"  All-telling  Fame  doth  noise  abroad." 

On  the  5th  of  November,  amid  the  general  rejoic- 
ing at  the  return  of  peace,  a  startling  event  occurred 
well  calculated  to  shake  the  stability  of  the  modus 
vivendi  which  had  taken  shape  in  the  new  Pro- 
visional Government. 

General  Corral,  late  at  the  head  of  the  Legitimist 
armies,  had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  drawing 
up  the  treaty  of  October  23d.  Both  he  and  Walker 
had  sworn  to  obey  its  terms.  One  of  its  conditions 
was  that  Martinez,  the  Legitimist  general,  should 
remain  in  command  at  Managua,  and  Zatruch  at 
Rivas.  On  November  the  5th,  Valle  brought  to 
Walker  intercepted  communications  sent  by  Corral, 
the  new  Minister  of  War,  to  General  Gardiola,  who, 
along  with  General  Zatruch,  had  fled  to  Honduras. 

There  can  be  110  manner  of  doubt  that  these  letters 
were  directly  aimed  at  the  destruction  or  expulsion 
of  the  Americans  ;  that  their  spirit  was  in  violation 
of  the  new  treaty,  and  hostile  to  the  new  govern- 
ment ;  and  as  they  called  for  assistance  from  other 
Central  American  States,  it  may  not  be  doubted  that 
they  were  overt  acts  of  treason.  Walker,  as  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  army,  summoned  a  court- 
martial,  by  whom  Corral  was  arraigned,  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  be  shot.  The  court,  which  by  the 
choice  of  the  defendant  himself,  was.  composed  en- 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  55 

tirely  of  Americans,  unanimously  recommended  the 
minister  to  mercy.  The  principal  citizens,  includ- 
ing many  ladies  of  distinction,  waited  upon  Walker 
and  united  in  the  recommendation  of  the  court.  The 
daughters  of  the  accused  fell  upon  their  knees  before 
him  and  besought  his  mercy.  But  he  remained  in- 
exorable, and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
November  the  9th,  the  rifles  are  heard  to  ring  out 
on  the  Plaza,  and  the  "  New  Element "  has  proved 
itself  a  convert  to  the  practices  of  the  "  Old  Regime." 

The  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Corral 
was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  D.  Buenaventura 
Salva,  a  Democrat,  so  that  the  new  ministry,  with  one 
exception,  was  composed  entirely  of  Walker's  friends. 

On  the  10th  of  November,  the  new  provisional 
government  was  recognized  by  Mr.  Wheeler,  the 
Minister  of  the  United  States. 

But  now,  just  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  new 
administration,  a  blunder  in  policy  is  conceived  and 
executed,  under  Walker's  auspices,  which  in  due 
season  let  loose  the  winds  of  .ZEolus,  whose  howl 
became  the  Iliad  of  all  his  woes. 

To  maintain  himself  in  Nicaragua,  it  was  abso- 
lutely essential  that  Walker  should  receive  acces- 
sions of  Americans,  and  these  could  only  be  intro- 
duced by  way  of  the  Transit  across  the  Isthmus  from 
San  Juan  del  Norte  to  San  Juan  del  Sur.  This 
route  had  been  opened  in  connection  with  a  conces- 
sion to  a  company  of  Americans  made  for  the  purpose 
of  connecting  the  two  oceans  by  a  ship  canal. 


56  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

There  were  two  companies,  one  owning  the  con- 
cession, or  franchise  (as  we  would  say),  called  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Ship  Canal  Company,  and  the 
other  the  Accessory  Transit  Company,  the  latter 
holding  the  relation  to  the  main  corporation  of  the 
modern  "  Construction  Company."  The  construc- 
tion of  this  canal  was  an  enterprise  which  every 
loyal  citizen  of  the  United  States  should  encourage, 
and  which  no  true  American  would  oppose.  Had 
Walker  had  the  sublime  ideal  of  a  redeemed  and 
regenerated  Nicaragua  really  and  sincerely  at  heart 
he  would  have  realized  the  importance  of  the  con- 
struction and  opening  of  this  great  artery  through 
which  the  pulsations  of  two  oceans  would  give  re- 
newed vitality  to  the  commerce  of  the  world.  This 
enterprise  presented  an  opportunity  of  advancement 
far  greater  than  any  which  he  or  Castellon  or  Rivas 
had  devised,  or  were  capable  of  executing. 

So  far,  however,  from  rising  to  the  height  of  the 
grand  argument,  Walker  regarded  the  Inter-Oceanic 
canal  in  the  light  only  of  an  adjunct  to  his  own  fili- 
bustering scheme  of  self-aggrandizement  and  power. 

At  the  instigation  of  one  or  two  personal  friends 
in  San  Francisco  representing  the  interest  of  a  pro- 
jected new  company,  he  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to 
declare  the  charter  of  the  canal  company  forfeited, 
and  to  seize  their  property  and  place  it  in  the  hands 
of  a  commission  of  his  own  selection.  His  course 
in  this  matter  was  utterly  unjustifiable  either  under 
the  Constitution  of  1838  or  under  the  laws  which 


1855.]  Nicaragua.  57 

regulate  international  comity  in  civilized  commu- 
nities. 

Except  in  countries  absolutely  despotic,  there  is 
no  authority  to  annul  charters  by  executive  decree, 
and,  still  less,  to  seize  private  property  or  appoint 
commissions  to  hold,  administer,  convert  or  dis- 
tribute it.  All  this  is  matter  of  judicial  cognizance, 
and  the  exercise  of  any  such  authority  by  the  execu- 
tive is  usurpation,  and  in  the  highest  degree  tyran- 
nical and  oppressive.  The  Constitution  of  Novem- 
ber 12th,  1838,  divides  the  government  into  three 
departments,  and  defines  the  duties  of  each ;  and 
Walker,  who  had  been  a  student  of  law,  must  have 
known  that  in  giving  to  executive  "decree"  the 
authority  of  a  judicial  inquisition,  or  legislative  en- 
actment, he  was  trampling  the  constitution  of  his 
adopted  country  under  his  feet.  In  due  time  it  will 
appear  what  bitter  fruit  this  high  handed  measure 
bore  for  its  unfortunate  projector.  When  these  un- 
justifiable proceedings  had  been  concluded,  Walker 
proposed  his  new  charter,  and  submitted  it  to  Presi- 
dent Rivas. 

That  there  was  a  commercial  deal  in  these  trans- 
actions, conducted  upon  a  low  personal  plane,  must 
have  become  apparent  to  Rivas,  prematurely  for  the 
designs  of  Walker,  for  we  are  told  that  the  Provi- 
sional President  signed  the  new  charter,  which  dated 
February  19,  1856,  with  extreme  reluctance. 

To  show  the  folly  of  Walker's  conduct  toward  the 
Accessory  Transit  Company,  we  may  mention  that 


58  Nicaragua.  [1855. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  its  president,  just  before  the 
destruction  and  confiscation  of  his  property,  shipped 
at  his  own  expense  two  hundred  and  fifty  recruits  to 
reinforce  Walker's  army.  This  was  the  friend,  a 
prince  of  financiers,  whom  our  short-sighted  ad- 
venturer exchanged  for  some  obscure  friends  of  his 
own,  who  finally  deserted  and  abandoned  him,  even 
before  their  own  lamentable  failure  had  lost  to  Nicara- 
gua and  to  the  world  all  present  prospect  of  the  execu- 
tion of  the  most  important  work  of  modern  times. 
Had  Vanderbilt  been  let  alone,  it  is  probable  that 
his  genius  might  have  accomplished  this  great  work, 
now  again  (1895)  in  process  of  construction. 

Notwithstanding  this  stupendous  blunder,  Walker's 
fortunes  continued  to  thrive  until  in  March,  1856, 
he  numbered  1,200  Americans — citizens  and  soldiers 
under  his  command  or  influence — in  Nicaragua. 
With  a  cool,  deliberate  pilot  at  the  helm,  the  vision 
of  regeneration,  or  at  least  palpable  reform,  ought  now 
to  have  shaped  itself  clearly  above  the  horizon  as 
something  capable  of  substantial  realization — "a 
dream  that  was  not  all  a  dream." 

Among  the  first  acts  of  the  new  commander-in- 
chief  was  to  disband  the  native  Nicaraguan  troops, 
and  thus  leave  the  military  arm  of  the  republic  in  the 
control  of  the  Americans.  Now,  as  the  latter  were  all 
Democrats,  this  action  would  seem  to  be  in  violation 
of,  if  not  the  letter,  at  least  the  spirit  of  the  new  treaty. 

It  needs  no  further  comment  to  show  the  extreme 
imprudence  and  impolicy  of  such  a  proceeding. 


Nicaragua.  59 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1856. 

COSTA    RICA    DECLARES     WAR — A     NEW     ELECTION     DE- 
CREED  WALKER     BECOMES     DICTATOR RIVAS     AND 

JEREZ    ABANDON    LEON,    AND     PROCEED    TO     CHINAN- 

DEGA CENTRAL     AMERICAN      ALLIANCE      AGAINST 

WALKER FIRST  BATTLE  OF  MASAYA,  OCTOBER  llTH, 

1856 RELIEF  OF  GRANADA,  OCTOBER    13TH,  1856 

SECOND    BATTLE  OF  MASAYA,  NOVEMBER  15TH,  1856. 

THE  Republic  under  her  new  auspices  had  sent, 
through  General  Jerez,  Minister  of  Relations,  the 
terms  of  the  treaty  of  October  23rd,  with  friendly 
greetings,  to  the  several  Central  American  Republics. 
To  this  circular  only  one  State,  San  Salvador,  re- 
turned a  favorable  response.  The  others  maintained 
an  ominous  silence.  Many  Legitimists  of  Nicaragua 
had  taken  refuge  in  Costa  Rica,  including  Generals 
Zatruch  and  Martinez. 

Through  the  agitation  of  these  and  other  influ- 
ences a  very  hostile  feeling  towards  the  new  order  of 
things  in  her  northern  neighbor  was  soon  developed 
in  the  little  republic. 

She  soon  began  active  preparations  for  war,  and 
was  furnished  arms  and  encouraged  in  her  hostile 
demonstrations  by  the  government  of  England. 
Similar  hostile  elements  existed  in  the  other  repub- 
lics. Honduras  had  just  driven  into  exile  her  Lib- 


60  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

eral  president,  General  Trinidad  Cabanas,  and  no 
less  person  than  General  Gardiola  was  canvassing 
there  to  succeed  in  the  presidential  office.  The  pro- 
fessional revolutionist  of  Central  America  is  like 
the  professional  politician  in  the  United  States,  when 
defeated  in  one  quarter  he  turns  up  somewhere  else, 
with  the  irrepressible  audacity  of  a  loon  of  the  Adi- 
rondacks,  or  an  ignis  fatuus  of  the  Dismal  Swamp. 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1856,  Costa  Rica  formally  de- 
clared war  against  the  "  Filibusters  "  in  Nicaragua. 

The  president  and  leading  spirit  of  Costa  Rica  was 
D.  Rafael  Mora,  a  man  of  supreme  energy,  and  by 
nature  as  well  as  habit  a  revolutionist. 

His  declaration  of  war  was  not  against  the  State  of 
Nicaragua,  but  distinctly  against  the  colonized  Ame- 
ricans, whom  he  designated  as  "  Filibusters."  In  this 
declaration  he  raised  and  nourished  the  black  flag, 
declaring  that  all  prisoners  taken  with  arms  in  their 
hands  were  to  be  shot.  It  may  be  appropriate  here  to 
remark  that  during  the  late  war  between  the  United 
States  there  arose  ever  and  anon  a  hoarse  cry  upon 
either  side  for  the  black  flag !  This  was  resisted  by 
military  men*,  and  was  regarded  by  moderate  men 
of  all  parties  as  the  echo  of  semi-civilization. 

Let  us  see  how  General  Walker  was  prepared  to 
meet  the  threatened  invasion,  which  was  aimed  di- 
rectly against  himself  and  his  American  "  Filibus- 
ters." 


"Among  the  original  black  flag  idiots  was  General  Fremont,  whom  Mr. 
Lincoln  rebuked.    See  Van  Buren's  Lincoln,  page  116. 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  61 

On  the  1st  of  March,  1856,  the  regular  American 
force  in  the  service  amounted  to  six  hundred  men. 
In  addition  to  these  there  were  several  irregular 
bodies  of  men  along  the  line  of  the  Transit  Company, 
amounting  to  about  six  hundred  more,  whom  Walker 
thought  could  be  relied  upon  for  defensive  purposes 
in  case  of  foreign  invasion. 

About  the  9th  of  March  two  hundred  and  fifty 
fresh  recruits  arrived  under  direction  of  one  Goicou- 
ria,  who  was  a  Cuban,  and  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  Transit,  and  interested  in  Walker  in  a  man- 
ner commercial  rather  than  military.  On  the  llth 
of  October,  Walker  organized  the  new  recruits  into  a 
battalion  of  five  companies  and  placed  them  under 
command  of  Colonel  Schlessinger. 

On  the  same  day  (March  llth,  1856,)  the  General- 
in-Chief  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  war  against 
the  Legitimist  party,  and  called  upon  the  army  to 
throw  aside  the  Blue  Ribbon  of  October  23rd  and  re- 
sume the  Red  Ribbon  of  Democracy. 

General  Walker,  ever  ready  to  act  on  the  offensive, 
determined  to  strike  the  first  blow.  There  is  in  the 
department  of  Guanacaste,  which  lies  in  the  South, 
immediately  binding  upon  Costa  Rica,  much  terri- 
tory disputed  between  the  two  adjoining  republics. 
It  was  towards  this  territory  that  Walker  sent  a  force 
which  was  to  intervene  between  the  army  of  General 
Mora  and  the  Transit,  it  being  a  matter  of  deadly  im- 
portance to  Walker  to  protect  the  Inter-oceanic  com- 
munication, whence  his  recruits  were  to  be  intro- 


62  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

duced.  With  this  view,  General  Walker  sent  his 
newly  arrived  battalion,  under  the  command  of  Colo- 
nel Schlessinger,  consisting  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
men,  divided  into  four  companies,  into  the  Meridional 
Department.  Two  of  these  companies  were  Ameri- 
can, and  of  the  remaining  two  one  was  German  and 
the  other  French,  with  captains  corresponding  to 
these  respective  nationalities.  It  was  on  the  16th  of 
March  Schlessinger  reached  San  Juan  del  Sur. 

On  the  20th  he  had  reached  what  Walker  styles 
the  "country-house"*  of  Santa  Rosa,  which  is  in 
Costa  Rica  about  a  day's  march  south  of  San  Juan 
del  Sur.  Here  Schlessinger  was  surprised,  defeated, 
and  his  battalion  dispersed  by  the  advanced  forces 
of  Mora's  army  of  Costa  Ricans. 

All  of  the  Nicaraguans  who  were  captured  were  put 
to  death  without  remorse — nothing  being  permitted 
to  intervene  between  them  and  their  fate  except  that 
murderer's  phrase  "Court-martial"  or  "Military  Com- 
mission." 

So  ended  the  first  expedition  of  the  war  with  Costa 
Rica.  The  incompetent  Schlessinger  was  put  upon 
trial,  but  managed  to  desert  and  escape  punishment. 

This  unfortunate  disaster  to  his  army  at  their  out- 
set had  a  most  discouraging  effect  upon  Walker's  fol- 
lowers. Desertions  and  applications  for  furloughs 
were  beginning  to  deplete  his  ranks.  He  determined 
to  carry  his  army  southward  towards  the  seat  of  war, 
and  to  establish  his  headquarters  at  Rivas,  in  the 


*On  the  maps  it  is  put  down  as  a  town. 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  63 

Meridiem.  This  he  accordingly  did  before  the  1st  of 
April,  and  the  seat  of  government  was  at  the  same 
time  removed  from  Granada  to  Leon.  Before  leaving 
Granada,  however,  the  Provisional  President  issued 
a  decree  placing  the  Meridional  and  Oriental  Depart- 
ments under  martial  law,  whereby,  as  to  these  de- 
partments, Walker  was  made  substantially  Dictator. 

On  March  the  30th  Walker  had  his  whole  army 
concentrated  at  Rivas,  and  there  addressed  them  on 
the  Plaza  in  language  which  seemed  to  inspire  new 
confidence  and  put  a  check  to  despondency  and  de- 
sertion. 

Meanwhile,  his  capital  blunder  in  destroying  Van- 
derbilt's  transit  began  to  bear  its  legitimate  fruit. 

Not  a  recruit  has  reached  him  since  Cornelius  Van. 
derbilt  sent,  at  his  own  expense,  the  battalion  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men. 

The  transit  had  become  apparently  useless  to 
General  Walker,  and  as  the  Occidental  Department 
was  being  threatened  from  the  north  by  Guatamala, 
he  determined  to  march  or  sail  back  to  Leon.  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  5th  of  April  he  embarked  all  his 
force  on  the  steamer  San  Carlos,  and  on  the  8th  all 
were  disembarked  safely  at  Granada.  No  sooner  had 
Walker  left  Virgin  Bay  than  General  Mora,  who  had 
crossed  the  frontier  without  Walker's  knowledge^ 
moved  forward  and  took  possession  of  the  town. 
Here  his  troops  fired  upon  the  American  laborers 
employed  by  the  Transit  Company,  and  broke  open 
and  robbed  the  Company's  building  and  burned 


64  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

their  wharf  to  the  water 's  edge.  Walker  at  Granada, 
hearing  of  these  proceedings  by  Mora,  determined  at 
once  to  reverse  his  steps  and  attack  Mora  in  Rivas. 
The  very  next  morning  after  landing,  on  the  9th  of 
April,  Walker,  at  the  head  of  550  Americans,  marched 
out  of  Granada  at  daylight  and  took  the  road  to  Rivas. 
Walker  had  discharged  and  disbanded  all  soldiers 
that  could  not  speak  English — a  proceeding  which 
would  seem  to  be  unwise  in  the  extreme.  He  had  left 
at  Rivas  a  small  body  of  native  troops,  and  these, 
under  command  of  one  Machado,  a  Cuban,  escaped 
Mora  and  rejoined  Walker  on  his  march.  On  the 
morning  of  April  llth  Walker  assailed  Rivas,  taking 
the  Costa  Ricans  entirely  by  surprise.  The  number 
of  the  latter  under  Mora  was  estimated  at  three  thou- 
sand— no  doubt  an  overestimate. 

Walker's  information  enabled  him  to  locate  the 
headquarters  of  the  Costa  Rican  general,  and  his 
plan  of  attack  was  to  concentrate  around  the  house 
occupied  by  Mora,  and,  if  possible,  capture  him.  in 
person. 

The  attack  was  led  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sanders 
on  the  north  of  the  Plaza  with  four  companies,  and 
Major  Brewster  with  three  companies  on  the  south, 
while  Colonel  Natzmer  with  the  Second  Rifles  was 
to  threaten  the  enemy's  right  flank  while  he  kept  in 
supporting  distance  of  Sanders. 

Machado,  with  the  natives,  was  to  enter  the  Plaza 
on  the  north  and  to  the  right  of  Sanders,  while 
Colonel  Fry's  light  infantry  was  to  be  held  in  reserve. 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  65 

The  attack  was  well  planned  and  gallantly  exe- 
cuted. In  a  short  time  the  Americans  had  full  pos- 
session of  the  Plaza  and  all  the  houses  around  it. 
The  Costa  Ricans  took  refuge  in  the  western  portion 
of  the  town  and  fortified  themselves  in  the  adobe 
houses,  through  which  they  cut  loop-holes  for  defen- 
sive firing. 

The  American  troops  with  their  rifles  did  deadly 
execution,  but  they  could  not  be  brought  to  storm 
the  houses  in  which  the  enemy  had  taken  refuge. 
The  latter  did  not  remain  entirely  on  the  defensive, 
but  made  one  or  two  unsuccessful  sallies  after  the 
Americans  had  ceased  to  advance. 

When  night  came  on  both  parties  seemed  to  be 
exhausted,  and  Walker  having  no  artillery  and 
despairing  of  storming  the  barricades  of  the  Costa 
Ricans  determined  to  withdraw  his  force.  With  due 
precaution  and  silent  deliberation,  shortly  after  mid- 
night, the  command  left  the  Plaza  and  the  town,  the 
wounded  in  the  centre,  and  Major  Brewster  com- 
manding the  rear  guard. 

The  Costa  Ricans  never  discovered  the  departure 
till  after  daylight,  when  they  had  crossed  the  river 
Gil  Gonzales,  near  Obraje.  That  night  the  command 
encamped  again  on  the  banks  of  Ochamago  Walker's 
loss  in  the  action  was  fifty-eight  killed  and  sixty-two 
wounded,  in  all,  counting  those  missing,  about  120 
men.  He  estimates  that  of  the  enemy  at  about  200 
killed  and  400  wounded.  On  the  Serapagui  the 
Costa  Ricans,  about  250  strong,  were  cutting  a  road 


66  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

to  the  San  Juan  river,  to  cut  off  Walker's  communi- 
cations, when  they  were,  on  the  10th  of  April,  attacked 
and  routed  by  an  inferior  force  under  Captain  Bald- 
win. They  retreated  back  to  San  Jose. 

After  his  return  to  Granada,  Walker  had  Father 
Vigil,  a  worthy  Catholic  priest,  appointed  as  Minister 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Bivas  administration. 
The  good  father  repaired  to  Washington,  and  on 
reaching  there  was  recognized  by  the  American 
Government. 

The  attack  on  Rivas,  while  unsuccessful  in  re- 
deeming the  Meridional  Department  from  the  Legiti- 
mists and  Costa  Bicans,  was,  as  an  exhibition  of  bold 
and  dashing  military  operations,  of  great  service  to 
the  Americans.  They  had  marched  forty  miles  and 
surprised  the  enemy  in  his  barricades,  inflicting 
severe  punishment ;  had  returned  in  good  order, 
and  with  but  slight  loss  compared  with  that  of  the 
enemy. 

The  march  of  Mora  northward  was  effectually 
checked,  and  his  adherents  much  demoralized. 

About  the  21st  of  April,  200  new  recruits  were 
brought  in  by  General  Hornsby,  and  twenty  volun- 
teers were  added,  who  had  come  to  join  Walker  at 
their  own  expense. 

Although  the  General-in-Chief  had  obeyed  the 
instincts  of  humanity  in  his  treatment  of  defenceless 
sick  and  wounded  prisoners,  yet  his  arbitrary  char- 
acter could  not  let  the  occasion  of  his  regaining  the 
Meridional  Department  go  by  without  some  irregular 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  67 

and  unlawful  execution.  Accordingly,  Francisco 
Ugarte,  a  leader  of  the  Legitimists,  was  seized,  tried 
by  a  "  military  commission/'  and  sentenced  to  be 
hung — a  mode  of  execution  "unusual  in  the  country" 
says  Walker,  "shooting  being  resorted  to  rather  than 
hanging.' 

We  have  now  reached  another  crisis  in  the  history 
of  Walker  in  Central  America. 

In  October,  1855,  he  had  beaten  the  army  of  the 
Legitimists  before  Rivas,  and  compelled  them  to  sue 
for  peace.  Now,  has  the  tide  of  his  adverse  fortune 
turned  in  his  favor  by  dashing  itself  against  the  an- 
cient capital  of  the  Meridion.  The  attack  of  the 
llth  of  April,  though  apparently  a  defeat,  bore  the 
fruit,  not  of  a  single  victory,  but  of  a  successful 
campaign.  Not  only  were  the  Costa  Ricans  ex- 
pelled and  humiliated,  but  in  the  north  and  east 
in  Segovia  and  Chantales — the  plots  of  the  Legiti- 
mists are  quelled,  and  Mariona  Salazar,  who  has 
been  sent  as  commissioner  to  Matagalpa  and  faithful 
old  Valle,  who  has  been  rewarded  by  a  similar 
appointment,  both  report  entire  order  and  submis- 
sion to  the  Rivas  administration  in  the  northeastern 
or  temperate  latitudes  of  the  Republic.  Father 
Vigil,  a  Democrat,  has  been  appointed  Minister  to 
the  United  States,  and  what  is  more  to  the  purpose, 
has  been  recognized  by  the  Great  Republic  of  the 
North. 

Walker,  as  General-in-Chief  of  the  army,  seemed 
now  to  enjoy  the  confidence  of  the  natives,  and  is 


68  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

still  receiving  recruits  from  America.  His  main- 
tenance of  order  in  Nicaragua,  and  with  it,  a  new 
departure  in  Central  American  civilization,  depend 
now  entirely  upon  himself. 

Fortunately  for  history,  he  has  furnished  us  in 
the  clearest  and  most  accurate  English,  the  form 
into  which  his  policy  and  designs  at  this  crisis  had 
developed  themselves. 

(1.)  Although,  as  I  have  intimated,  Walker  was 
originally,  perhaps,  a  disciple  of  the  Manifest  Des- 
tiny cult,  yet  now  that  he  has  met  with  success,  he 
distinctly,  almost  scornfully,  repudiates  all  idea  of 
annexation. 

(2.)  As  for  Republicanism  and  Civil  Liberty,  he 
has  not  retained  a  vestige  of  veneration  or  regard 
for  them.  His  maxim  of  government  for  Nicaragua 
is  that  "  there  can  be  but  one  head."  His  ideal  is 
the  "  Military  Republic,"  in  other  words,  that  child 
of  Anarchy,  called  Dictatorship,  is  to  this  genuine 
convert  to  Central  American  methods,  the  only 
government  for  Nicaragua. 

(3.)  We  are  not  left  long  in  doubt  as  to  the  nomi- 
nation and  selection  of  this  Dictator.  Walker  him- 
self is  to  be  the  Santa  Anna  of  Nicaragua. 

(4.)  Slavery  is  to  be  introduced.  Perhaps  of  all 
the  rampant  vagaries  of  American  political  agitators 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  two  forms  will  stand  out 
most  prominently,  like  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  be- 
tween which  the  seas  of  disorder  and  the  waves  of 
faction  have  lashed  themselves  to  fury.  One  of 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  69 

these  is  Abolitionism  and  the  other  that  offspring  of 
Abolitionism,  called  the  Slave  Propaganda.  To  the 
professional  office-seeker  in  the  United  States,  ideas, 
platforms,  principles,  are  only  the  hobby-horses 
whereby  men  may  ride  into  power.  But  under  their 
persistent  stump  oratory  a  few  persons,  generally 
esteemed  cranks,  begin  to  think  their  indoctrination 
sincere,  and  hence  they  advance  upon  action  as  the 
fruit  would  follow  the  blossom. 

So  it  was  that  John  Brown  not  only  became  pos- 
sible, but  advanced  from  the  criminal  classes  to  the 
ranks  of  the  saints. 

And  so  our  poor  unfortunate  adventurer,  after 
having  coined  everything  but  his  heart's  blood  into 
the  most  astonishing  career  on  record,  begins  from 
fighter  to  turn  philosopher. 

(5)  Not  only  does  this  achiever  of  astonishing  tri- 
umphs seek  to  reintroduce  slavery  into  Nicaragua, 
but  he  tells  us  that  the  native  Indian  would  prove 
the  full  equal  of  the  negro  as  a  slave,  in  docility  and 
behavior,  and  could  no  doubt  be  readily  reduced  to 
that  relation.  In  order  to  further  this  idea — really 
incapable  of  language — Walker  repeals  all  ordi- 
nances which  precede  the  Constitution  of  1838,  in- 
cluding that  which  prohibited  slavery. 

Our  adventurer,  however,  overlooked  the  fact  that  the 
Constitution  of  1838  did  itself  prohibit  slavery,  in  any 
form  whatever. 

But  I  am  persuaded  that  my  readers  of  the  narra- 
tive of  this  Central  American  John  Brown  are  now 


70  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

prepared  to  understand  the  causes  of  his  failure.  He 
was  a  man  capable  of  producing  great  opportunities, 
but  without  the  power  to  subdue  them. 

It  was  necessary  to  group  these  principles  and 
designs  of  Walker  in  advance  of  his  own  narrative, 
in  order  to  understand  the  unfolding  of  events  in 
Nicaragua,  and  especially  his  abandonment  by  the 
Democratic  party,  at  whose  invitation  he  had  entered 
the  Republic,  and  whose  crimson  colors  decorated 
his  army. 

Being  a  fearless,  outspoken  man,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  prominent  men  of  all  parties 
began  to  understand  something  now  of  his  real  de- 
signs, and  the  methods  by  which  he  proposed  to 
accomplish  them.  What  he  calls  "  the  defection  of 
Rivas  "  would  appear  a  most  natural  and  patriotic 
proceeding,  when  the  lofty  ambition  and  real  char- 
acter of  Walker  were  revealed  to  the  Provisional 
President. 

About  the  period  we  have  reached — say  June  9th, 
1856 — rumors  were  authentic  that  President  Carrera, 
of  Guatamala,  had  sent  a  large  force  southward,  then 
on  the  march  against  Nicaragua.  This  fact  Rivas 
made  the  subject  of  proclamation  to  the  people,  pub- 
lished on  June  the  3d. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  at  this  point  to  inquire  who 
this  Carrera  was,  that  his  name  should  inspire  such 
terror  in  Central  America.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  since  the  historic  era,  from  the  aboriginal  stock 
there  has  sprung  no  man  at  all  comparable  to  Car- 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  71 

rera.*  In  the  north  we  have  had  Philip,  Black 
Hawk  and  Tecumseh,  and  in  the  south  we  have  golden 
myths  of  Montezuma  and  Guatemozin.  But  it  was 
reserved  for  Carrera  alone  to  take  up  successfully 
the  gage  of  battle  for  his  native  race,  to  be  hailed 
by  them  as  their  savior,  f  To  bring  to  his  feet  the 
old  Spanish  aristocrats,  to  defend  the  church,  to 
organize  government,  evoke  order  out  of  chaos,  and 
subduing  the  restless  elements  of  a  mixed  Central 
American  population,  to  remain  steadily  at  the  helm 
of  state  for  fourteen  consecutive  years.  The  regret 
that  all  must  experience  is  that  this  truly  great  man 
has  had  no  historian,  and  like  so  many  others,  is  as 
yet  only  to  be  seen  as  depicted  by  his  enemies.  His 
career  had  commenced  under  a  flag  inscribed  "  Death 
to  whites,  foreigners  and  heretics." 

Mr.  Squier,  who  visited  Central  America  about 
this  time,  places  the  peace  footing  of  Carrera's  army 
at  1,550  men,  and  125  officers;  but  adds  that  in  an 
emergency  10,000  men  could  be  raised  in  the  Re- 
public. Such  was  the  army,  and  such  the  captain 
that  was  threatening  Nicaragua  from  the  north. 

Walker  concentrated  his  command  at  Granada, 
and  having  now  thoroughly  mastered  the  science  of 
government  as  administered  in  Central  America,  he 
issued  a  pronunciamento  constructing  a  new  pro- 
visional government,  with  his  old  friend,  D.  Ermin 
Ferrer  at  its  head.  Rivas  rescinded  his  election 


*  Unless  we  should  except  President  Diaz,  of  Mexico, 
t  Squier,  514,  517. 


72  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

decree,  which  Walker  had  forced  upon  him;  but  in 
the  Oriental  and  Meridional  Departments,  the  elec- 
tion was  proceeded  with,  and  the  commander-in- 
chief  was  chosen,  and  on  the  12th  of  July,  cere- 
moniously inaugurated  as  president  of  Nicaragua. 

In  his  pronunciamento,  Walker  had  based  his 
action  upon  the  treaty  of  October  23d,  which  he  had 
sworn  to  obey  and  cause  to  be  obeyed,  but  he  con- 
veniently overlooked  the  fact  that  the  treaty  ex- 
pressly recognized  the  Constitution  of  1838,  (which 
the  contracting  parties  had  no  power  to  abrogate, 
even  if  so  inclined),  which,  modeled  after  that  of  the 
United  States,  required  the  president  to  be  a  native  of 
the  Republic.  Neither  do  we  hear  anything  more 
about  those  representatives  and  senators,  who  were 
to  be  elected  at  the  same  time. 

A  few  of  the  leaders  among  the  natives  adhered  to 
Walker's  fortunes,  notably  the  faithful  old  Indian, 
Valle.  But  a  large  majority  joined  the  allies  along 
with  Rivas,  Jerez,  and  Salazar.  The  last  named 
having  subsequently  fallen  into  Walker's  hands  was 
forthwith  shot  by  his  order  in  the  Plaza  of  Granada, 
doubtless,  near  the  very  spot  where  Corral  was  exe- 
cuted in  the  same  way  a  few  months  before.  Upon 
this  coincidence  Walker  remarks  with  grim  satisfac- 
tion :  "There  was  the  same  joyful  feeling  shown  by 
the  old  Legitimists  at  the  death  of  Salazar  as  had  been 
shown  by  the  Democrats  at  the  execution  of  Corral." 

In  the  latter  part  of  June  and  1st  of  July,  Walker 
received  over  200  new  recruits  from  various  sections 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  73 

of  the  United  States.  He  also  seized  a  Costa  Rican 
schooner,  the  San  JosS,  and  converted  her  into  a 
vessel  of  war  called  the  Granada.  Armed  with  two 
six-pound  carronades  she  was  placed  under  command 
of  Lieutenant  Faysson,  a  native  of  Missouri,  and  an 
adventurer,  but  of  high  courage  and  ability. 

The  forces  of  the  allies  were  under  the  command 
of  General  Ramon  Belloso,  a  San  Salvadorian,  and 
numbered  probably  1,800  men,  namely  500  from 
Guatamala,  500  from  San  Salvador,  and  800  native 
Nicaraguans.  The  Guatamalans,  under  General 
Paredes,  were  nearly  all  Indians. 

Walker  ought  to  have  had  from  700  to  800  Ameri- 
cans under  him.  As  early  as  the  month  of  August, 
however,  he  begins  to  complain  that  desertions  were 
thinning  his  ranks,  though  these  were  principally 
confined  to  the  Europeans  whom  he  had  enlisted. 

The  Republic  was  now  blessed  with  only  three 
presidents  :  Walker  in  the  Meridional  Department, 
with  headquarters  at  Granada  ;  Rivas  in  the  Occi- 
dental, at  Leon  ;  and  Estrada,  the  Legitimist,  who, 
after  having  taken  refuge  in  Honduras,  had  again 
stepped  upon  the  revolutionary  stage,  and  was  star- 
ring, so  to  speak,  in  the  Septentrional  regions,  with 
headquarters  at  a  mountain  village  called  Samoto 
Grande.  The  situation  was  somewhat  relieved, 
however,  by  the  early  murder  of  Estrada  by  a  band 
of  Democrats  from  Leon,  who  came  upon  him  in  his 
mountain  retreat  unawares.  Thereafter  the  Legiti- 
mists gave  in  their  adherence  to  President  Rivas. 


74  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

If  ever  there  was  a  time  in  which  a  ruler  needed 
to  conciliate  his  people  and  weld  them  together  in 
the  bonds  of  a  common  patriotism,  Walker  had 
reached  that  crisis  in  the  course  of  his  affairs. 

So  far,  however,  from  yielding  to  these  dictates  of 
rational  judgment,  the  new  President,  surrounded 
by  a  cabinet  of  shadows,  the  Premier  being  his  old 
Prefect,  Ferrer,  enters  forthwith  upon  his  schemes 
by  promulgating  a  series  of  most  despotic  and  extra- 
ordinary decrees,  every  one  of  which  was  calculated 
to  alienate  his  people,  outrage  their  feelings,  and 
concentrate  all  Central  America  against  him. 

The  first  of  these  decrees  was  intended  practically 
to  substitute  the  English  language  for  the  Spanish 
in  all  public  and  official  proceedings. 

Then  came  a  decree  declaring  the  property  of  all 
enemies  of  the  State  forfeited  to  the  Republic,  and  a 
board  of  commissioners  was  appointed  to  take  pos- 
session of  and  sell  all  such  confiscated  properties. 
At  these  sales  military  scrip  was  receivable  in  pay- 
ment, thus  enabling  those  engaged  in  arms  with 
Walker  to.  seize  the  estates  of  those  opposing  him. 
Thirdly,  a  registration  law  was  decreed  whereby  all 
land  titles  and  claims  were  to  be  recorded  within  six 
months.  With  a  frankness  worthy  of  Carrera,  Walker 
tells  us  that  the  tendency  and  object  of  these  decrees 
were  to  place  the  lands  of  the  country  into  the  hands 
of  the  white  race.  But  his  crowning  act  of  folly,  if 
not  insanity,  was  the  decree  of  September  22d,  which 
was  intended  to  legitimate  the  institution  of  slavery. 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  75 

I  have  before  shown  how  futile  this  decree  was  for 
any  such  purpose,  because,  though  reciting  the  Con- 
stitution of  1838,  its  effect,  if  such  as  our  Dictator  in- 
tended, would  have  been  in  direct  violation  of  that 
Constitution,  which  defines  the  rights  of  man  to  be 
"  Liberty,  equality,  security  of  life  and  property,  all 
of  which  are  inseparable  and  inalienable,  and  inhe- 
rent in  the  nature  of  man/'  Again  :  "  Every  man 
is  free,  and  can  neither  sell  himself  nor  be  sold  by 
others.'' 

But  enough  of  this  dreary  review  of  Walker's  fatu- 
ity and  pre-ordained  hurdle-race  to  his  own  over- 
throw and  destruction. 

We  may  dismiss  his  political  efforts  and  philoso- 
phies by  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Na- 
tional Democratic  platform  of  the  United  States, 
adopted  at  Cincinnati  June  2d,  1856,  contains  a  reso- 
lution drawn,  it  is  said,  by  Hon.  Pierre  Soule,  which 
is  worthy  of  notice,  and  which  Walker  intimates  was 
intended  as  an  endorsement  of  his  career.  But  when 
we  remember  that  he  was  in  reality  the  enemy  of  the 
Inter-oceanic  Canal,  we  may  honor  the  just  and  pa- 
triotic sentiments  of  Soule,  while  we  deprecate  the 
insincerity  of  Walker.  It  is  pleasant  to  reflect  that 
amidst  the  unseasoned  and  worm-eaten  lumber  in- 
troduced into  recent  party  platforms,  the  Democratic 
party  of  the  United  States  has  again  expressed  its 
desire  in  its  platform  adopted  at  Chicago  on  the  22d 
of  June,  1892,  for  the  completion  of  this  the  most 
important  enterprise  of  modern  times. 


76  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  Walker  had  under  him 
about  800  effective  men.  The  First  Rifles,  number- 
ing about  200,  were  at  Granada  ;  the  Second  Rifles, 
under  Colonel  McDonald,  were  at  Tipitapa,  a  small 
town  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Granada,  on  Lake 
Managua.  Small  detachments  were  at  Masaya  and 
Managua  respectively,  and  two  companies  of  infantry, 
under  Colonel  Rudler,  were  guarding  the  San  Juan 
river.  On  the  14th  of  September  a  detachment, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Byron  Cole,  assaulted  a 
country  villa,  or. hacienda,  called  San  Jacinto,  a  few 
miles  north  of  Tipitapa.  Cole,  who  was  one  of  the 
originators  of  Walker's  invasion,  was  unfortunately 
killed  and  his  party  defeated. 

About  the  same  time  General  Belloso,  commanding 
the  allied  forces,  left  Leon  at  the  head  of  about  1,800 
men,  and  commenced  his  march  upon  Granada. 
Walker's  detachments,  stationed  along  the  route  at 
Masaya  and  Managua,  fell  back  toward  Granada.  At 
Nindiri,  three  miles  from  Masaya,  Belloso  was  joined 
by  General  Martinez  with  a  reinforcement  of  400  or 
500  native  Nicaraguan  recruits,  gathered  from  the 
Northern  Department. 

The  fighting  was  now  about  to  recommence  in 
earnest.  About  the  1st  of  October,  Walker  received 
new  accessions  to  his  forces  from  California  and 
other  parts  amounting  to  175  men,  also  four  hundred 
minie  rifles  and  two  mountain  howitzers — a  most 
useful  weapon  in  a  country  without  railway  trans- 
portation. 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  77 

Walker,  following  his  usual  tactics  of  assailing  the 
enemy,  marched  upon  Masaya  with  800  men,  leaving 
Colonel  Fry  with  200  reserves  in  Granada.  On  the 
10th  of  October  the  American  general  attacked 
General  Belloso  in  Masaya.  The  San  Salvadorian 
withdrew  all  of  his  forces  into  the  main  Plaza  and 
the  houses  immediately  around  it.  The  Americans 
occupied  the  Plazueta  of  San  Sebastian,  and  com- 
menced cutting  their  way  through  the  adobe  houses 
to  the  Plaza.  When  darkness  set  in  they  had  made 
such  progress  under  the  lead  of  Captain  Schwartz  of 
the  artillery,  supported  by  Captain  McChesney  of 
the  Rifles,  and  Dreux  of  the  Infantry,  that  the  tier 
of  houses  fronting  on  the  Plaza  alone  separated  them 
from  the  enemy. 

What  would  have  been  the  result  of  the  next  day's 
operations  when  the  opposing  forces  were  brought 
face  to  face  on  the  Plaza  will  ever  remain  obscured 
in  conjecture,  for  the  reason  that  startling  intelli- 
gence now  recalled  Walker  to  the  relief  of  his  own 
capital. 

General  Paredes,  being  sick  at  Leon,  General  Za- 
vala  was  in  command  of  the  Guatamalan  troops  at 
Diriomo,  a  small  village  about  fifteen  miles  south  of 
Granada.  Upon  learning  Walker's  movements,  Za- 
vala  marched  at  once  upon  Granada,  and  had  been 
assailing  the  city  vigorously  before  the  news  reached 
Walker.  Immediately  on  hearing  it,  Walker  early 
on  the  morning  of  October  13th  put  his  force  in  mo- 
tion and  attacked  the  enemy  on  the  Jaltera  of  Gran- 


78  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

ada,  where  he  had  barricaded  himself.  The  garri- 
son, only  200  strong,  commanded  by  Colonel  Fry, 
were  inclosed  in  the  Plaza,  where  they  were  gallantly 
defending  themselves. 

When  Walker  came  up  the  fight  was  sharp  and  de- 
cisive. They  Guatamalans  were  put  to  rout  with  the 
loss  of  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and  many  men  killed, 
wounded,  and  captured. 

The  Guatamalans  had  behaved  with  great  bru- 
tality, and  Walker  complains  bitterly  of  the  soldiery, 
"which  an  unlettered  savage  had  let  loose  on  the 
plains  of  Nicaragua." 

It  may  not  be  unjust,  however,  to  reflect  that  this 
"unlettered  savage"  (Carrera)  was  fighting  for  the 
existence,  independence  or  supremacy  of  his  native 
race,  which  Walker  proposed  to  reduce  to  slavery. 

During  the  operations  around  Masaya,  Colonel 
Laine,  a  gallant  Cuban,  aid  to  the  General-in-Chief, 
was  taken  prisoner  and  shot.  If,  however,  the  al- 
lies supposed  they  could  monopolize  the  business  of 
shooting,  they  mistook  their  man.  Walker  retaliated 
promptly  by  shooting  a  Guatamalan  officer  of  equal 
rank,  and  also  a  captain — the  latter  thrown  in  by 
way  of  good  measure. 

Up  to  this  date,  say  the  middle  of  October,  the 
allies  had  nothing  to  boast  of  in  their  unequal  con- 
flict with  the  filibusters.  They  were  still  in  posses- 
sion of  Masaya,  it  is  true,  but  they  had  been  routed 
with  frightful  loss  at  Granada. 

Just  here  we  may  remark  that  whenever  Walker 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  79 

was  present  on  the  field  wifh  his  men,  they  behaved 
with  gallantry  and  spirit,  and  if  not  always  victorious 
were  never  thrown  into  confusion  or  demoralization. 
We  may  justly  claim  for  him,  therefore,  one  essen- 
tial quality  of  the  successful  general — the  faculty  of 
inspiripg  confidence.  Among  his  subordinates,  many 
of  whom  were  as  gallant  spirits  as  ever  illustrated 
war,  there  seems  to  have  been  but  one  officer  equal 
to  an  independent  command.  That  officer  is  now 
about  to  step  upon  the  theatre  of  the  war  in  Nicara- 
gua, made  memorable  by  the  achievements  and  ruins 
with  which  his  name  is  inseparably  connected. 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  the  13th  of  October, 
Colonel  C.  F.  Henningsen  arrived  from  New  York 
in  charge  of  arms  and  ordnance  stores  for  Walker. 
The  latter  almost  immediately  conferred  upon  Hen- 
ningsen the  rank  of  Brigadier-General. 

The  age  of  adventure  in  America  is  over.  We 
have  heard  with  our  ears  and  our  fathers  have  told 
us  of  the  achievements  of  such  adventurers  as  Sir 
Walter  .Raleigh  and  Captain  John  Smith,  governor 
of  Virginia,  and  sometime  admiral  of  New  England. 
Had  Henningsen  lived  in  that  era,  he  might  have 
achieved  a  similar  renown.  Born  in  England,  in  an 
age  of  steam  and  order,  he  had  fought  with  the  Car- 
lists  in  Spain,  assisted  Kossuth  and  his  Hungarians, 
and  is  now  now  an  American  filibuster. 

Later  on  he  joined  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
that  superb  array  of  soldiery  of  which  the  universe 
will  never  cease  to  discourse. 


80  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

General  Henningsen  at  once  set  about  organizing 
the  artillery  and  instructing  the  infantry  in  the  use 
of  the  minie  rifle. 

On  November  2d,  General  Hornsby  was  sent  from 
Granada  to  Virgin  Bay  with  175  men  to  protect  the 
Transit.  Subsequently,  he  was  reinforced  by  San- 
ders with  150  rifles,  and  a  howitzer  under  Captain 
Dulany,  his  effective  force  being  on  the  10th  of  No- 
vember 250  men.  General  Jose  M.  Caiias,  com- 
manding the  vanguard  of  the  Costa  Rican  army, 
was  threatening  the  Transit.  Hornsby  made  a 
movement  against  Caiias  near  Virgin  Bay,  but  the 
attack  (as  usually  the  case,  Walker  being  absent) 
was  unsuccessful.  Thereupon,  on  the  llth  of  No- 
vember, Walker,  at  the  head  of  250  men,  repaired  to 
Virgin  Bay,  taking  with  him  Henningsen,  a  how- 
itzer, a  mortar,  and  a  squad  of  sappers  and  miners. 
Walker,  with  that  celerity  of  movement  which  was 
his  cardinal  virtue  as  a  military  man,  reached  Vir- 
gin Bay  on  November  llth,  in  the  afternoon,  and  at 
daybreak  the  next  morning  assaulted  Caiias  (com- 
manding 800  Costa  Ricans)  so  furiously  that  he  was 
compelled  to  retreat  in  great  disorder.  He  was 
driven  through  San  Juan  del  Sur  across  the  river,  up 
the  coast-trail  to  Rivas,  where  Walker  left  him  be- 
hind his  barricades  defeated  and  demoralized. 

Walker  had  been  diverted  from  his  former  attack 
upon  Belloso,  at  Masaya,  by  Zavala's  counter-attack 
on  Granada.  He  seems  to  have  been  very  anxious 
to  repeat  the  experiment  against  Masaya  since  he 


1856.]  Nicaragua.  81 

now  had  the  assistance  of  Henningsen  and  a  much 
more  effective  artillery  corps,  which  Henningsen  and 
Major  Swingle  had  organized. 

The  troops  were  re-embarked,  therefore,  at  Virgin 
Bay,  except  Colonel  Markham  with  the  First  Rifles, 
who  was  left  at  the  latter  point. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  November,  the 
Americans,  550  strong,  were  again  on  the  march 
from  Granada  upon  Masaya. 

Before  half  the  distance  was  accomplished,  how- 
ever, information  was  received  that  Jerez  had  marched 
to  join  Canas  at  Rivas  with  700  or  800  men.  To  meet 
this  new  danger  to  the  Transit,  General  Walker  or- 
dered Colonel  Jacques  back  to  Granada  with  his 
infantry,  there  to  re-embark  for  Virgin  Bay.  Reduced 
now  to  less  than  300  men,  the  attack  on  Masaya,  one 
would  suppose,  would  be  abandoned.  No  good  result 
could  be  derived  from  such  an  attack  unless  the  de- 
feat of  the  enemy  should  be  so  decisive  as  to  drive 
him  back  to  Leon  and  relieve  Granada  from  the 
threatened  environment.  Such  a  decisive  defeat  or 
route  under  the  circumstances  would  seem  chimerical. 

Nevertheless,  our  General's  mania  for  assailing 
fortified  towns  with  an  inferior  force  impelled  him 
forward,  and,  accordingly,  on  the  16th  of  November, 
the  enemy's  pickets  were  driven  in  and  a  furious 
assault  made  upon  Masaya.  The  Rangers  were  led 
to  the  attack  by  Waters,  and  the  Rifles  by  Sanders, 
while  Henningsen  poured  into  the  enemy  a  most 
destructive  rain  of  cannister  and  round  shot,  until 


82  Nicaragua.  [1856. 

the  Allies  were  driven  from  the  suburbs  into  the 
main  town,  and  the  Americans  took  possession  of 
the  high  ground  which  the  former  had  abandoned. 
This  victory  of  November  15th,  indecisive  as  it  was, 
was  dearly  purchased  at  a  cost  to  Walker  of  one- 
third  of  his  command  in  killed  and  wounded,  in- 
cluding some  valuable  officers.  Lieutenant  Stahl 
was  killed,  and  Swartz,  Eubanks  and  West  wounded. 
The  attack  was  continued  on  the  16th  and  17th, 
until  dark  of  the  latter  day.  The  Americans  had 
succeeded  in  driving  the  Allies  into  the  Plaza,  and 
were  within  twenty-five  or  thirty  yards  of  the  houses 
which  were  held  by  the  enemy. 

At  midnight  of  the  17th  of  November,  Walker, 
concluding  that  more  time  would  be  required  to  dis- 
lodge his  adversary  than  he  could  well  spare,  and 
his  little  force  being  much  exhausted,  resolved  to 
retire  to  Granada  preparatory  to  abandoning  the 
Occidental  Department.  The  retreat  was  orderly 
and  unmolested,  and  on  the  18th  Walker  re-entered 
Granada. 


Nicaragua  83 


CHAPTER  V. 

1857. 
ABANDONMENT    OF    THE    OCCIDENT — DEFENCE    OF    THE 

GUADALUPE "  AQUI    FUE    GRANADA  " — SPENCER  ON 

HIS  RAFT THE  TRANSIT  CLOSED THE  ALLIES  CLOSE 

AROUND    WALKER    AT    RIVAS HE     SURRENDERS    TO 

CAPTAIN    DAVIS    OF    THE  U.  S.  WAR-SCHOONER,  SAINT 
MARY,  MAY  1ST.,  1857. 

IT  seems  probable  that  the  Allies-  had  been  re? 
inforced  by  a  large  body  of  Guatamalans  just  before 
the  attack  of  the  15th,  and  it  is  certain  their  num- 
ber was  four  or  five  times  as  great  as  that  of  Walker. 

The  abandonment  of  the  Occident  was  from  the 
nature  of  the  case,  the  last  act  in  the  drama  of  fili- 
busterism  in  Nicaragua.  It  is  only  to  be  regretted 
that  Walker  gave  to  it  such  a  tragical  prologue  as 
the  wanton  burning  of  Granada. 

Twelve  months  before  he  had  condemned  to  death 
two  citizens  who  burned  an  empty  barrack  in  a 
small  town  for  fear  he  might  be  suspected  of  hav- 
ing connived  at  the  act.  Now  he  has  become  so 
thoroughly  Central  Americanized  that  he  deliber- 
ately devotes  to  destruction  an  ancient  and  beauti- 
ful city  of  10,000  inhabitants,  with  no  conceivable 
motive  except  vandalism,  born  of  defeat,  exaspera- 
tion and  revenge. 

The  work  of  burning  Granada  was  intrusted  to 


84  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

General  Henningsen,  left  behind  for  that  purpose, 
while  the  general-in-chief  repaired  in  person  to  Vir- 
gin Bay,  having  first  sent  away  his  sick  and  wounded 
to  Omotepec  Island,  in  lake  Nicaragua. 

Perhaps  the  most  gifted  officer  in  Walker's  service 
was  Captain  Callender  Irwine  Fayssoux,  whom  Walker 
had  placed  in  command  of  the  schooner  Granada.  On 
the  23d  of  December,  on  Lake  Nicaragua,  this  gal- 
lant officer  engaged  the  Costa  Rican  brig,  Once  de 
Abril.  The  log  of  the  Granada  tells  the  story  briefly 
and  graphically:  "At  six,  within  four  hundred  yards 
of  her,  she  fired  round  shot  and  musketry  at  us.  At 
eight  we  blew  her  up.  At  ten  we  had  taken  from 
the  sea  her  captain  and  forty  men."  The  brig  car- 
ried four  nine-pounders  and  114  men,  all  of  whom 
were  lost,  except  those  whom  Fayssoux  picked  up. 
His  own  loss  was  one  killed  and  eight  wounded.  To 
the  credit  of  Walker,  it  must  be  stated  that  he  treated 
these  nautical  prisoners  with  the  greatest  kindness 
and  gave  them  passports  to  return  to  Costa  Rica. 

Nor  did  he  fail  to  reward  Fayssoux,  though  in 
a  manner  not  quite  so  realistic  as  was  his  kindness  to 
the  captured  sea-farers.  "  The  day  after  the  action 
with  the  '  Once  de  Abril,'  says  he,  '  Fayssoux  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  the  estate  of  Rosa- 
rio,  near  Rivas,  was  bestowed  on  him  for  the  signal 
services  he  had  rendered  the  Republic. 

Considering  that  Walker  had  not  yet  captured 
Rivas,  his  generosity  in  giving  away  the  estates  of 
Rosario,  must  have  appealed  to  Fayssoux's  sense  of 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  85 

humor.  Capture  and  possession  in  the  natural 
order  of  events,  should  precede  final  disposition. 

We  now  approach  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
achievements  of  what  General  Henningsen  styles 
"  irregular  troops  "  The  destruction  of  Granada,  in- 
trusted to  General  Henningsen  and  his  successful 
retirement  therefrom,  in  the  face  of  an  overwhelm- 
ing force  of  the  enemy,  is  a  passage  comparable  to 
the  retreat  of  the  10,000.  Fortunately,  Henningsen 
lived  to  write  out  a  history  in  daily  detail  of  his 
retreat,  and  this  publication,  now  out  of  print,  was 
delivered  by  him  into  my  hands,  as  it  originally  ap- 
peared, with  illustrations  in  the  Golden  Prize,  a 
periodical  published  in  New  York. 

Henningsen  was  not  a  man  calculated  to  be  of  any 
service  to  Walker  in  any  other  than  a  military  ca- 
pacity. He  had  the  simplicity  of  a  child,  with  the 
courage  of  a  veteran.  His  whole  nature  was  an  ex- 
pression of  military  adventure,  and  he  knew  nothing 
of  affairs. 

In  the  military  code  he  recognized  that  there  was 
but  one  phrase — "Obedience  to  orders/'  Although 
his  name  is  generally  connected  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  Granada,  and  although  unpeopled  structures 
would  proclaim  to  travelers  4he  barbarism  of  their 
destroyer,  yet,  in  reality,  Henningsen  was  the  in- 
strument, not  the  projector;  the  torch,  not  the  in- 
cendiary. 

The  naked  cathedral  walls  of  Leon  *  respond  to 


•  For  a  description  of  the  ruins  of  Leon,  see  II.  Stevens,  22. 


86  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

those  of  Granada,  and  ruins  answer  unto  ruins. 
Central  America  is  herself  responsible  for  her  own 
destruction  and  desolation.  Walker  was  only  a  con- 
vert to  the  customs  of  the  country  ;  and  although  a 
filibuster,  yet  he  became  a  Central  American.  His 
naturalization  was  not  formal  only,  but  real. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  24th  of 
November,  the  Allies  attacked  the  city  at  three 
points.  Exclusive  of  officers  and  citizens,  Henning- 
sen's  fighting  men  reported  fit  for  duty  amounted  to 
about  one  hundred  of  all  arms.  Among  native  sol- 
diery, however,  raised  by  forced  levy  and  mostly 
Indians,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  artillery,  so  ter- 
ribly destructive  at  close  range,  inspired  a  whole- 
some dread,  otherwise  it  would  be  inconceivable  why 
Henningsen's  little  force  was  not  swept  out  of  exis- 
tence by  the  simultaneous  attacks. 

The  main  part  of  the  town  was  now  in  ruins,  being 
destroyed  down  to  the  Plaza,  where  the  Americans 
were  concentrated.  The  fighting  on  the  24th  was 
closed  by  a  memorable  charge  of  Colonel  Neale 
(whose  brother  had  been  killed  earlier  in  the  day), 
at  the  head  of  thirty-two  picked  riflemen,  against 
four  or  five  hundred  of  the  Allies.  Neale  plunged 
into  their  midst  with  his  riflemen,  shooting  right  and 
left  with  revolvers,  putting  them  to  flight  and  leav- 
ing over  one  hundred  of  them  killed  and  wounded 
on  the  field.  Henningsen  says  he  counted  sixteen 
dead  bodies  in  a  spot  not  forty-five  feet  square,  where 
the  first  rifle  volley  was  fired. 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  87 

On  the  25th,  Henningsen  ascertained  his  force  to 
be  257  strong  *,  encumbered  by  seventy-three  wound- 
ed and  sick,  and  seventy  women  and  children.  Of  his 
original  force  twenty-seven  were  cut  off  at  the  wharf, 
which  was  about  four  hundred  yards  from  the  Plaza, 
between  which  and  the  wharf  the  enemy  had  seized 
two  churches,  thus  intervening  between  the  Ameri- 
can and  his  point  of  embarkation.  He  had  sixty 
horses,  and  flour  for  seven  days'  rations;  also  six 
pieces  of  artillery,  but  only  a  limited  and  wholly  in- 
sufficient supply  of  ammunition. 

The  little  detachment,  cut  off  at  the  wharf,  defended 
itself  gallantly  for  some  days  until  a  deserter,  inform- 
ing the  enemy  of  the  smallness  of  their  numbers, 
they  were  set  upon  and  after  some  loss  compelled  to 
surrender. 

Henningsen  had  destroyed  all  the  houses  of  the 
town  except  those  immediately  around  the  Plaza, 
and  nothing  remained  but  to  burn  these  and  embark 
his  troops.  But  as  the  enemy  had  seized  two  churches 
which  commanded  his  route  to  the  Lake,  there  was 
necessity  to  dislodge  them. 

Henningsen  managed  to  let  a  large  supply  of 
brandy  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  attacking  party, 
and  it  is  said  the  roar  of  their  carousals  rose  above 
that  of  the  fire-arms  and  artillery. 

On  the  28th,  under  flag  of  truce,  the  Allies  sent  a 
communication  addressed  "  To  the  Commander-in- 


•  Walker  inadvertently  states  this  as  227. 


88  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

Chief  of  the  remains  of  Walker's  forces/'  signed  by 
Generals  Paredes  and  Zavala  of  the  Guatemalan, 
General  Martinez  of  the  Nicaraguan,  and  General 
Belloso  of  Salvador  and  Nicaraguan  forces,  inviting 
surrender  and  promising  protection  and  passports  to 
leave  the  country.  To  this  Henningsen  replied  in 
an  answer,  decided  in  its  refusal,  defiant  and  insult- 
ing in  its  terms.  The  truth  is,  he  had  confident  ex- 
pectation of  effecting  his  escape,  and  on  the  other 
hand  had  no  confidence  in  this  promise  of  protection 
in  case  he  surrendered. 

To  add  to  the  difficulties  already  surrounding  the 
American  General  and  his  devoted  little  band,  pesti- 
lence, in  the  form  of  cholera  and  typhus  broke 
out  in  his  entrenched  camp.  Henningsen,  however, 
made  the  same  discovery  that  Walker  had  before  ob- 
served, namely,  that  the  natives  were  much  more  sus- 
ceptible to  disease  than  the  Americans.  Hence  the 
Allies  suffered  more  than  their  adversaries,  one  of 
their  best  commanders,  General  Paredes,  being  car- 
ried off  by  the  cholera. 

In  the  meantime,  during  the  sixteen  or  seventeen 
days  that  Henningsen  had  been  beleagured  amid  the 
ashes  of  Walker's  burnt  capital,  where  was  Walker 
himself  ?  Not  idle,  we  may  be  sure. 

The  filibuster  general  seemed  to  understand  from 
the  outset  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  desperate  enter- 
prise. But  the  ring  of  rifles  on  the  Plaza  which 
would  have  haunted  the  imagination  of  an  ordinary 
adventurer,  never  seemed  to  disturb  Walker  or  has- 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  89 

ten  his  movements.  He  was,  as  a  modern  author 
remarks,  "  A  belated  Cortez" — born  out  of  season.* 

At  Rivas,  on  the  llth  of  April,  1856,  he  deliberately 
put  his  back  against  the  lake,  with  his  front  to  the 
enemy,  so  that  retreat  being  impossible,  the  gage  was 
for  victory  or  annihilation.  He  took  his  time  about 
relieving  Henningsen,  steaming  about  on  the  lake 
daily  to  see  that  his  flag  was  still  floating  in  the  be- 
leaguered city,  but  organizing  at  the  same  time  for 
defence  in  the  Meridion.  When  the  moment  had 
arrived  to  relieve  the  little  garrison,  he  lands  Colonel 
Waters,  with  175  Rangers,  on  the  coast  a  few  miles 
above  Granada,  and  steams  away  across  the  lake. 
This  was  the  burning  of  the  Spanish  ships,  by  which 
he,  in  effect,  said  to  Waters,  cut  your  way  through  to 
Granada  or  be  obliterated.  Waters,  the  hero  of  so 
many  fights,  understood  the  alternative. 

Between  eleven  o'clock  and  midnight  of  the  12th 
of  January,  1857,  Henningsen  heard  in  the  distance 
along  the  northern  coast  a  fire  of  musketry,  which 
was  immediately  answered  by  the  well-known  sound 
of  the  American  rifles.  Only  those  who  have  lis- 
tened to  the  peals  of  a  not  distant  battle  can  appre- 
ciate the  feelings  of  the  devoted  little  band  of  fili- 
busters, when  they  heard  the  inspiring  music  of 
these  sharp  and  dangerously  angry  rifles.  Neither 
was  their  clangor  a  vain  noise,  for  in  due  season  the 
gallant  Colonel  Waters,  having  carried  four  barri- 
cades against  immense  odds,  entered  Granada,  and 

*  Ford's  Tropical  America,  372. 


90  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

with  155  men,  of  whom  thirty  were  wounded,  joined 
Henningsen. 

Henningsen's  force  now  numbered  200  good  fight- 
ing men,  and  the  Allies  despairing  of  being  able  to 
hold  the  wharf,  set  fire  to  and  abandoned  it.  The 
day  of  deliverance  for  the  little  army  was  at  hand. 
The  Allies,  apparently  disheartened,  and  with  a 
wholesome  dread  of  the  improvised  round  shot  and 
cannister,  made  no  serious  effort  to  disturb  the  em- 
barkation until  all  were  safely  on  board  the  Virgin. 
General  Henningsen  fired  a  parting  shot  with  his 
own  hand  from  the  window  of  the  Guadalupe  Cathe- 
dral. On  abandoning  Fort  Henry  he  stuck  up  a 
lance  with  the  inscription  :  Aqui  fue  Granada — (Here 
stood  Granada.) 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  act  as  an  act  of 
war,  we  can  but  concur  with  Henningsen's  report 
that  as  a  military  achievement  the  defence  of  and  suc- 
cessful retreat  from  Granada  has  few  parallels  in 
the  history  of  "  irregular  armies." 

Henningsen  estimates  that  first  and  last  the  Allies 
brought  to  bear  against  him  a  force  of  not  less  than 
4,000  men.  Their  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was 
over  800 ;  this  does  not  include  those  who  died  of 
typhus  and  cholera. 

Against  this  force  Henningsen  held  out  from  the 
24th  of  November,  1856,  to  the  llth  of  January, 
1857.  The  total  force  under  his  command  when  he 
was  surprised  on  November  24th  (1856),  numbered 
419,  of  whom  110  were  killed  or  wounded,  120  died 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  91 

of  disease,  cholera  and  fever,  nearly  forty  deserted, 
and  two  were  made  prisoners.  Out  of  the  original 
419,  therefore,  only  166  embarked  on  the  Virgin  ; 
while  of  the  force  brought  in  by  Colonel  Waters  on 
the  12th  of  January,  1857,  fourteen  were  killed  and 
thirty  wounded  out  of  175.  And  so  ended  the 
siege,  defence  and  destruction  of  Granada.  The  va- 
cant Plaza,  the  roofless  Esquipulas  and  the  ruined 
Guadalupe  are  there  still,  almost  as  Henningsen  left 
them.* 

The  inhabitants  returned  in  due  time,  but  pros- 
perity and  peace — these  were  still  in  exile.  The 
population  of  Granada,  according  to  the  figures  of 
the  "  Bureau  of  American  Republics,"  is  15,000, 
about  what  it  was  when  Henningsen  commenced  its 
destruction  in  November,  1856. 

The  American  artillery  had  instilled  a  wholesome 
dread  in  the  minds  of  the  Allied  soldiery,  and  when 
it  was  learned  that  Henningsen  was  relieved  and  had 
joined  Walker  and  that  the  latter  was  on  his  way  to 
the  Meridional  Department,  the  enemy  abandoned 
that  department  and  marched  northward  to  join  Bel- 
loso  at  Masaya.  On  December  llth,  1856,  Walker 
had  again  taken  possession  of  Rivas. 

After  the  burning  of  Granada  nothing  but  mis- 
fortune seemed  to  pursue  the  steps  of  our  dictator 
on  Nicaraguan  soil.  One  Spencer,  an  American, 
had  espoused  the  cause  of  Costa  Rica,  and  undertook 
to  place  General  Jos6  Joaquin  Mora,  brother  to  the 

*  Ford's  Tropical  America,  1893,  p.  372. 


92  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

President  Don  Rafael  Mora,  in  possession  of  the 
Transit  route,  and  all  the  company's  steamers  on 
the  San  Juan,  and  in  the  port  of  San  Juan  del  Norte. 

This  ingenious  and  daring  American  did  more  to 
bring  the  Nicaraguan  war  to  a  speedy  close  than  Mora. 
Belloso,  Zavala,  or  Martinez,  or  all  of  them  combined, 
I  have  already  shown  the  vital  importance  to  Walker 
of  holding  the  Transit  and  keeping  open  the  Inter- 
oceanic  communication.  This  closed,  and  the  artery 
which  fed  the  heart  of  Walker's  enterprise  would 
cease  to  supply  life  to  his  adventure. 

I  have  before  remarked  that  Walker  had  not  a 
single  subordiate  except  Henningsen  (and  since  his 
gallant  march  to  relieve  Granada,  I  suppose  I  should 
except  Colonel  Waters)  equal  to  a  separate  command. 
The  same  old  story  of  defeat,  disaster,  surprise,  and 
incompetency  has  repeated  itself  from  the  day  when 
poor  Byron  Cole  fell  before  a  cattle  hacienda,  near 
Tipitapa  (San  Jacinto),  to  Schlessinger's  disgrace 
at  Santa  Rosa  ;  and  now  we  approach  Lockridge's 
dissolution  of  any  army  of  500  men  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy  on  the  San  Juan. 

The  officer  whom  Walker  assigned  to  guard  the 
Transit,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Serapini,  was  one 
Colonel  Thompson.  Spencer  marched  from  the 
capital  of  Costa  Rica,  San  Jose,  to  a  point  on  the 
river  San  Carlos,  and  thence  floated  his  men,  about 
120  in  number,  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Serapini. 
There  he  fell  upon  Thompson,  who  separated  from 
his  arms,  and  without  a  sentry  posted  was  quietly 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  93 

eating  his  dinner.  Most  of  his  men  were  killed  or 
wounded,  and  the  remainder  captured.  This  was 
the  first  reward  of  Spencer's  genius,  acting  upon  the 
incompetency  of  Walker's  subordinates. 

An  effort  has  been  made  to  produce  the  impres- 
sion that  Walker's  ranks  were  recruited  mainly 
from  the  Southern  States.  No  conception  could  be 
more  erroneous.  Among  his  officers  many  were 
English  and  German,  such  as  Henningsen,  Double- 
day,  Schwartz,  and  Swingle.  Still  more  were  north- 
ern, such  as  the  gallant  Anderson,  the  feeble  Lock- 
ridge,  Dolan,  and  many  others.  Two  States  sup- 
plied beyond  question  the  majority  of  his  private 
recruits — New  York  and  California.  These  were 
both  free  States.  His  filibusters  were  literally,  as 
the  poet  tells  us,  * 

"  Blown  from  the  four  parts  of  the  earth." 

Lockridge,  as  I  have  stated,  was  a  New  York  man, 
and  perhaps  as  capable  of  command  as  many  other 
civilians.  But  we  must  not  forget  two  facts:  First, 
war  is  a  science,  and  the  average  civilian  at  the  head 
of  an  independent  command  is  like  a  ploughman  at 
the  helm  of  a  ship  ;  secondly,  military  academies 
may  instruct  captains,  but  they  cannot  make  them  ; 
the  great  commander  is  born.  The  point  of  what  I 
have  written  above  is  this,  that  Spencer  was  a  born 
achiever  of  events,  while  Lockridge  was  a  born  failure. 
The  former,  in  command  of  125  men,  proceeded 


•  Joachin  Miller. 


94  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

from  one  victory  to  another,  until  he  had  not  only 
control  of  the  whole  Transit  from  San  Juan  del 
Horte  to  San  Carlos,  but  had  also  captured  both  of 
the  lake  steamers,  La  Virgen  and  San  Carlos. 

These  events  were  like  the  ticking  of  the  clock  of 
Walker's  doom.  He  looks  around  in  every  direction 
for  relief,  but  finds  none.  He  thinks  the  English 
naval  commander  at  San  Juan  ought  to  have  pro- 
tected the  Transit  steamers.  He  censures  the  United 
States  for  having  no  war-ship  there. 

But  why  should  the  United  States  protect  property 
which  Nicaragua,  acting  under  Walker's  dictation, 
had  confiscated. 

The  Costa  Ricans,  through  the  genius  of  the  Ame- 
rican, Spencer,  are  now  in  possession  of  the  San 
Juan,  from  San  Carlos  to  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  have 
captured  the  two  steamers  which  have  hitherto  con- 
ducted Walker  to  all  of  his  chief  victories — La  Vir- 
gen and  San  Carlos.  Thus  the  physical  impossibil- 
ity of  being  in  two  or  three  places  at  the  same  time 
has  reduced  our  adventurer  to  very  sore  straits. 

The  interest  excited  in  the  United  States  by  Walk- 
er's partial  successes  began  to  enlist  a  considerable 
amount  of  sympathy.  The  spirit  of  adventure  was 
rife;  and  but  for  the  unfortunate  loss  of  the  Transit, 
it  is  probable  reinforcements  would  have  been  for- 
warded in  such  numbers  as  to  enable  Walker  to  hold 
his  own,  and  eventually  drive  the  Allies  off  the  soil 
of  Nicaragua. 

In  the  month  of  January  some  240  men  reached 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  95 

San  Juan  del  Norte  intended  as  recruits  for  Walker's 
army.  Colonel  Lockridge  was  selected  by  the  agent 
of  the  owners  of  the  lake  and  river  steamers  to  re- 
gain possession  of  their  property  from  the  Costa 
Kicans.  Lockridge  fitted  up  an  old  disused  river 
steamer  at  San  Juan,  and  taking  command  of  the 
new  recruits  about  the  last  of  January,  moved  his 
force  up  the  river  to  a  point  several  miles  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Serapini.  On  the  4th  of  February, 
Colonel  H.  T.  Titus  arrived  from  New  Orleans  at  San 
Juan  with  180  more  men.  Thus,  within  one  month, 
420  volunteers  for  the  filibusters  had  reached  the 
Republic.  On  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  February 
Colonel  Lockridge,  having  divided  his  force  into  two 
commands,  one  under  Colonel  Anderson  and  the 
other  under  Colonel  Titus,  attacked  the  Costa  Ricans 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Serapini  and  drove  them  away, 
and  took  possession  of  the  position  on  both  sides  of 
the  river.  The  next  day  Titus,  with  about  140  men, 
ascended  the  river  with  a  view  of  attacking  Castillo. 
Anderson  was  left  in  command  at  Hipp's  Point. 

Titus  found  Castillo  garrisoned  with  a  very  small 
force ;  instead  of  taking  it  at  once,  he  began  parley- 
ing until  reinforcements  arrived  for  the  Costa  Ricans, 
when,  without  waiting  to  ascertain  their  numbers,  he 
retreated,  or  rather  incontinently  fled.  Titus  now 
abandoned  his  command,  and  returned  to  San  Juan. 
He  was  a  coward.  Lockridge  remained  inactive,  and 
his  force  was  much  weakened  by  desertion  and  sick- 
ness. About  the  middle  of  March  130  fresh  men  ar- 


9G  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

rived,  mostly  from  Mobile  and  Texas.  These  were 
of  excellent  quality  and  fine  fighting  material. 

Lockridge  determined  to  make  another  attempt  to 
get  possession  of  Castillo  Viejo.  He  accordingly  led 
his  force  through  a  trail  to  a  height  overlooking  the 
fort,  called  Nelson's  Kill — so  named  after  the  great 
Englishman,  Lord  Nelson,  who  in  1780  captured  the 
fort  from  the  Spanish.  But  the  officer  now  leading 
the  attacking  party  was  not  a  Nelson  by  any  means. 
On  the  contrary,  he  did  not  like  the  appearance  of 
the  fortified  camp,  and  retired  without  any  effort  to 
storm  it.  This  may  have  been  wise  and  prudent,  but 
the  result  was  the  abandonment  of  the  effort  to  clear 
the  river  or  reach  Walker  ;  and  immediately  there- 
after the  disbanding  of  Lockridge's  whole  force  of 
four  or  five  hundred  men.  When  these  discharged 
men  reached  San  Juan  del  Norte,  the  English  naval 
force  there  stationed  was  only  too  willing  to  assist 
them  in  leaving  the  country.  Thus  ended  the  last 
scene  of  filibusterism  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  Re- 
public. Let  us  now  return  to  the  Pacific. 

The  500  splendid  fighting  men  which  Lockridge 
disbanded,  had  they  been  able  through  an  open  transit 
to  reach  Walker  safely  in  Rivas,  would  have  swollen 
his  forces  to  over  1,200  men  ;  and  with  constant  in- 
crement from  the  same  source  no  power  of  the  Allies 
could  have  driven  him  out  of  Nicaragua.  The  latter, 
according  to  Walker's  estimate,  had  dwindled  by 
battle,  desertion,  and  disease  from  7,000  to  2,000 
during  the  ten  weeks  succeeding  their  advance  from 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  97 

Leon.  They  were  greatly  discouraged,  and  dissen- 
sions seemed  about  to  dissolve  the  Alliance. 

But  how  different  the  aspect  of  affairs  with  General 
Mora  established  at  Fort  San  Carlos,  the  two  steam- 
ers, Walker's  wings,  so  to  speak,  tied  up  by  the  enemy; 
and  the  great  "highway  of  filibusterism "  forever 
closed  against  its  leader  !  A  very  short  time  sufficed 
to  end  the  war  after  the  middle  of  March,  1857,  and 
but  short  space  needs  to  be  accorded  to  its  closing 
incidents.  Walker  says,  sententiously  :  "  The  pos- 
session of  the  lake  and  the  river,  and  the  closing  of 
the  Transit,  gave  new  life  to  the  leaders  of  the  Allied 
troops,  and  they  determined  to  advance  into  the 
Meridional  Department." 

Walker's  efforts  to  break  through  his  investment 
are  only  the  eagle  beating  against  the  wires  of  his 
cage. 

San  Jorge  is  a  pretty  little  town  on  the  lake  shore, 
only  two  miles  east  of  Bivas.  On  the  26th  of  Janu- 
ary, General  Caiias,  of  the  Allied  army,  took  posses- 
sion of  this  town,  and  commenced  at  once  throwing 
up  barricades.  Walker  says  that  long  practice  has 
made  the  Central  American  the  most  expert  people 
in  the  world  in  barricading.  Canas  was  reported  to 
have  under  him  800  or  1,000  men,  and  in  an  almost 
incredibly  short  time  he  had  the  Plaza  of  San  Jorge 
and  the  houses  around  it  strongly  fortified.  On  the 
morning  of  the  29th  of  January,  Henningsen,  who 
had  been  made  major-general,  accompanied  by  San- 
ders, second  in  command,  marched  against  San  Jorge 


98  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

with  the  First  and  Second  Rifles,  Jacques'  Infantry, 
some  rangers,  a  twelve-pound  howitzer,  and  a  six- 
pounder.  The  first  attack  on  the  barricades  failed, 
but  nothing  discouraged,  Henningsen  was  preparing 
for  a  second  attack,  when  the  enemy  made  a  sortie, 
and  endeavored  to  drive  the  Americans  out  of  some 
plantain  patches  they  were  occupying.  But  the 
twelve-pound  howitzer  again  got  in  its  play  upon  the 
advancing  Allies  and  drove  them  back  with  slaughter. 
Henningsen  availing  himself  of  the  enemy's  repulse 
made  a  second  assault  upon  the  barricades,  but  with 
worse  success  than  before,  because  the  gallant  Colonel 
Jacques  was  wounded  and  other  brave  officers  were 
killed  or  wounded. 

The  loss  of  the  enemy  was  supposed  to  be  large, 
but,  nevertheless,  he  remained  in  possession  of  San 
Jorge. 

Walker  now  gave  the  Allies  an  opportunity  to 
meet  him  in  the  open  field  by  marching  to  San  Juan 
del  Sur  with  250  of  his  men  and  a  howitzer.  But 
the  Allies  declined  the  challenge  with  thanks. 

On  the  4th  of  February,  not  long  after  midnight 
of  the  3d,  Walker,  with  200  picked  riflemen,  marched 
against  San  Jorge,  and  surprised  Canas  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  But  he  met  with  no  better 
success  than  had  his  lieutenants,  for  he  was  not  only 
repulsed,  but  lost  some  of  his  best  officers,  including 
the  valiant  and  chivalrous  Colonel  O'Neal,  a  boy  in 
years,  but  a  veteran  in  courage  and  a  knight  in 
chivalrous  bearing. 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  99 

Walker  now  begins  to  complain  of  "  the  fearful 
epidemic  of  desertion  "  which  set  in  and  carried  off 
his  soldiers  by  squads,  sometimes  as  many  as  twenty 
in  twenty-four  hours.  He  seems  to  think  this  a 
strange  phenomenon,  but  when  we  reflect  upon  the 
prospect  which  looked  his  command  in  the  face,  of 
early  capture  and  certain  execution,  after  the  Central 
American  custom,  we  can  well  understand  that  many 
would  avail  themselves  of  the  inducements  held  out 
by  General  Mora  in  sundry  pronunciamentos  to  the 
effect  that  all  who  abandoned  Walker  should  have 
safe  escort  out  of  the  country. 

During  the  month  of  March,  up  to  the  16th,  no 
battle  occurred  of  any  importance,  although  there 
were  sundry  small  skirmishes  in  several  of  which, 
according  to  Walker  (a  wonderfully  frank  man),  the 
Allies  worsted  the  filibusters,  even  when  the  terms 
were  nearly  equal. 

On  ths  16th  of  March,  the  last  engagement  oc- 
curred in  which  the  Americans  were  the  aggressors. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Walker  attacked 
Masaya  in  October,  1856,  his  success  was  foiled  by  a 
counter  movement  made  by  Zavala  upon  Granada. 
So,  on  this  16th  of  March,  General  Walker's  vigorous 
attack  on  San  Jorge,  though  apparently  successful, 
only  resulted  in  precipitating  the  Allies  upon  Rivas, 
where  Walker  was  hemmed  in,  San  Juan  del  Sur 
having  already  fallen  into  the  possession  of  the 
Allies.  The  force  of  the  latter  in  San  Jorge,  on  the 
10th  of  March,  had  been  swelled  to  over  2,000  men. 


100  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

Walker  attacked  the  village  with  400  troops,  two 
iron  six-pounders,  one  twelve-pound  howitzer,  and 
four  small  mortars.  After  a  hot  contest,  the  Allies 
could  not  withstand  the  artillery  which  played  upon 
the  Plaza,  and  abandoned  that  position — and  in  fact 
were  driven  from  the  village.  But  in  retiring,  they 
took  position  along  the  road  to  Rivas.  Now,  if 
Walker's  reserve  at  the  latter  point  had  been  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  press  forward  and  engage  the  enemy, 
the  Allied  position  would  have  been  very  uncomforta- 
ble, not  to  say  critical.  But  such  was  not  the  case; 
on  the  contrary,  Walker  was  hard  pressed  to  regain 
his  own  headquarters  at  Rivas;  and  soon  found  him- 
self closely  beleaguered  there  and  forced  to  subsist 
upon  the  oxen,  horses  and  mules  attached  to  his 
command. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Americans  did 
some  brilliant  fighting  upon  the  16th,  and  inflicted 
heavy  loss  upon  the  Allies.  Walker  lost  thirteen 
killed  and  sixty-three  wounded,  four  of  the  latter 
mortally.  The  loss  of  the  Allies  was  put  at  about 
500  in  killed  and  wounded.  As  usual,  when  Walker 
commanded  in  person,  his  men  behaved  splendidly. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  closing  of  the  Transit  cut 
Walker  off  from  all  communication  with  the  United 
States  on  the  Atlantic  side,  but  he  was  still  receiving 
some  small  accessions  for  the  Pacific  coast  from  Cali- 
fornia. Now,  however,  his  friends  in  the  Accessory 
Transit  company,  Garrison  and  Morgan,  announce 
their  intention  to  cease  running  their  steamers  alto- 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  101 

gether.  This  "  treachery,"  as  Walker  calls  it,  was 
the  final  and  fatal  outcome  of  the  ill-advised  attack 
upon  Vanderbilt's  franchise  and  property. 

Events  were  now  hastening  to  a  close.  Left  to  the 
equatorial  solution,  the  Allies  would  now  speedily 
have  closed  in  upon  the  filibusters,  and  in  spite  of 
their  promised  protection  to  all  of  the  Americans 
except  Walker,  would  no  doubt  have  shot  every  fili- 
buster, with  Central  American  impartiality.  But 
fortunately,  at  this  critical  juncture,  there  appeared 
upon  the  scene  just  the  shadow  of  the  arm  of  a  tran- 
scendently  great  power.  Uncle  Sam  stepped  in,  and, 
taking  his  little  band  of  errant  filibusters  in  the  hol- 
low of  his  hand,  rescued  them  from  the  impending 
blare  of  musketry  and  rifles  on  the  Plaza. 

In  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  of  April,  General 
Mora,  now  in  command  of  the  Allied  army,  under  a 
flag  of  truce,  sent  letters  to  Walker  announcing  that 
Lieutenant  Huston  of  the  United  States  vessel,  St. 
Mary,  was  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Allies,  and  was 
ready,  under  the  United  States  flag,  to  conduct  the 
women  and  children  in  Bivas  to  San  Juan  del  Sur. 
Huston  remained  in  Rivas  that  night,  and  on  the 
24th  of  April  conducted  the  non-combatants  to  San 
Juan  del  Sur,  under  the  American  flag. 

The  St.  Mary  was  commanded  by  Captain  Charles 
H.  Davis.  The  gallant  Fayssoux  was  in  the  port  of 
San  Juan  del  Sur,  with  the  Granada,  and  his  guns 
commanded  the  town. 

On  the  30th  (April)  Captain  Davis  sent,  by  an  aid- 


102  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

de-camp  of  General  Mora,  a  letter  to  Walker  propos- 
ing that  he  should  surrender  and  go  aboard  the  St. 
Mary  to  Panama,  Davis  to  guarantee  his  personal 
safety,  in  other  words,  "  should  abandon  the  enter- 
prise and  leave  the  country." 

Thus,  through  the  intervention  of  Davis,  Walker 
sent  Henningsen  and  Waters  to  the  Allied  camp 
under  safe  conduct  from  General  Mora,  and  there 
the  outline  of  an  agreement  was  reached  in  a  propo- 
sition from  Davis  to  Walker — the  Allies  not  being 
anywhere  alluded  to  or  mentioned  as  parties  to  the 
same.  When,  on  the  1st  of  May,  Henningsen  pre- 
sented to  Walker  his  report  embodying  this  proposi- 
tion, Walker's  keen  eye  at  once  discovered  an  omis- 
sion. The  proposition,  while  it  made  ample  provision 
for  the  filibusters  themselves,  said  nothing  of  dispo- 
sitions in  favor  of  the  native  Nicaraguans,  mostly 
Leonese,  who  still  adhered  to  Walker's  cause.  The 
poet  of  the  Sierras,  describing  Walker  says  that  he 
was  "  gentle  as  a  panther,"  and  we  have  undoubtedly 
found  him  stern  and  implacable.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  simple  justice  to  his  character  impels  the  be- 
lief that  he  would  have  perished  utterly  rather  than 
have  deserted  or  abandoned  those  who  were  identi- 
fied with  his  cause  or  had  adhered  to  his  fortunes. 

He  promptly  informed  Henningsen  that  he  would 
sign  nothing,  and  agree  to  nothing  which  did  not 
contain  ample  guarantees  for  the  security  both  in 
person  and  property  of  the  native  Nicaraguans,  then 
in  Kivas.  Such  a  provision  was  accordingly  inserted, 


1857.]  Nicaragua.  103 

and  the  final  convention  contains  a  "guarantee  that 
all  natives  of  Nicaragua  or  of  Central  America,  now 
in  Rivas,  and  surrendered  to  the  protection  of  Cap- 
tain Davis,  shall  be  allowed  to  reside  in  Nicaragua, 
and  be  protected  in  life  and  property." 

This  point  being  gained  by  Walker,  the  details  of 
his  surrender  were  easily  made  out.  Henningsen 
probably  formulated  them,  for  we  are  told  that  the 
convention  was  "  submitted  to  Davis  and  signed  by 
him." 

General,  not  President,  be  it  observed,  William 
Walker,  with  sixteen  officers  of  his  staff,  'were  to 
march  out  of  Rivas  with  side-arms,  personal  bag- 
gage, etc.,  and  to  embark  on  the  United  States  ves- 
sel-of-war  St.  Mary's,  in  the  harbor  of  San  Juan  del 
Sur,  to  be  thence  safely  transported  to  Panama. 

The  privates  and  other  officers,  commissioned  and 
non-commissioned,  citizens  and  employees  of  depart- 
partments,  wounded  and  unwounded,  were  to  be 
placed  under  Davis's  protection  with  guarantee  of 
safe  and  free  transportation  to  Panama. 

Such  was  the  "  convention "  between  General 
Walker  and  Captain  Davis.  Upon  the  whole,  every 
one  should  have  been  satisfied  because  none  had  a 
right  to  complain.  With  scrupulous  accuracy,  char- 
acteristic of  a  fearless  nature  incapable  of  an  inten- 
tional deception,  Walker  gives  us  his  entire  force 
when  the  capitulation  occurred.  Of  men  fit  for  duty, 
he  had  but  274  ;  while  he  was  encumbered  with  173 


104  Nicaragua.  [1857. 

sick,  wounded  and  hospital  attendants;  also  102 
prisoners. 

Upon  the  other  hand,  the  Allied  army,  composed 
largely  of  enforyados — enforced  men  or  conscripts — 
would  have  suffered  a  comparatively  enormous  loss 
of  life  before  they  could  have  crushed  the  little  band 
of  filibusters,  armed  with  such  fatal  rifles,  and  wont 
to  deal  out  such  destructive  volleys  of  grape  and  can^ 
ister  upon  a  foe  unaccustomed  to  improved  instru- 
ments of  war.  The  Allies  were  only  too  glad  to  get 
rid  of  these  people  without  being  compelled  to  pay 
such  a  costly  price  for  the  pleasure  of  shooting  them. 

Fayssoux,  whose  name  I  can  never  mention  with- 
out a  thrill  of  admiration,  continued  even  to  the  end 
to  bear  himself  as  would  become  a  Paul  Jones,  a 
Porter,  or  a  Semmes.  He  surrendered  his  vessel, 
not  to  the  Allies,  but  to  the  United  States. 


Nicaragua.  105 


CHAPTER  VI. 

I860. 

WALKER  MAKES  ANOTHER  ATTEMPT  AGAINST  NICARAGUA. 
IS    ARRESTED    AND    BROUGHT    BACK    BY    COMMODORE 

PAULDING,  OF  U.  S.  NAVY IS  TRIED  FOR  A  VIOLATION 

OF  AMERICAN    NEUTRALITY  LAWS  AND  ACQUITTED 

HIS  DESCENT  WITH  NINETY  FOLLOWERS  UPON  TRUX- 
ILLO,  AUGUST  6TH,  1860,  IN  HONDURAS HIS  SUR- 
RENDER TO  CAPTAIN  SALMON,  OF  THE  BRITISH  SHIP 

"ICARUS" — is  DELIVERED  OVER  TO  THE  HONDU- 
RANS,  AND  CONDEMNED  TO  DEATH  BY  GENERAL 

DON  MARIANO  ALVAREZ HIS  DEATH  ON  THE  FATAL 

"CAUQUETE" — BURIED  IN  THE  CAMPO  SANTO  OF 
TRUXILLO THE  GREATEST  AND  BEST  OF  OUR  AMERI- 
CAN FILIBUSTERS. 

WE  come  now  to  the  closing  chapter  in  the  singu- 
larly checkered  career  of  General  William  Walker, 
the  "  grey-eyed  man  of  destiny." 

And  in  regard  to  his  aims  and  achievements,  we 
may  as  well  at  this  point  proceed  to  dispel  several 
popular  illusions  entertained  both  in  this  country 
and  in  Central  America. 

The  first  is  that  he  designed,  if  possible,  to  annex 
Nicaragua  to  the  United  States.  Nothing  was  farther 
from  his  intentions,  as  is  made  most  manifest  by  his 
own  declarations  and  admissions.  He  over  and  over 


106  Nicaragua.  [1860. 

distinctly  repudiates  any  such  design  or  intention.* 
His  aims  were  much  more  lofty  and  ambitious.  He 
was  going  to  establish  an  independent  empire,  with 
himself  as  chief,  based,  as  we  have  seen,  upon  the  in- 
stitution of  slavery — not  African,  but  Indian. 

A  second  error,  industriously  circulated,  is,  that 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  in  some  man- 
ner, or  to  some  extent  encouraged  Walker  in  his  fili- 
bustering enterprises.  This  supposition  is  also  with- 
out the  slightest  shadow  of  foundation.!  In  point 
of  fact,  the  Federal  Government  strained  a  point  in 
the  opposite  direction,  and  Walker  complains  bit- 
terly of  its  failure  to  recognize  him,  while  England 
was  openly  and  notoriously  aiding  his  enemies  by 
arms  and  other  munitions  of  war. 

Minister  Baker,  in  his  introductory  chapter,  speaks 
of  a  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  Walker's  sur- 
render, May  1, 1857,  and  an  oration  delivered  on  that 
occasion  by  Senator  Zembrana.  I  have  before  me 
that  oration  in  the  original,  and  in  refutation  of  the 
charge  of  American  secret  connivance  with  General 
Walker,  I  translate  the  following  extract: 

"But  on  arriving  at  this  point,  in  the  current  of  memory,  justice 
requires  that  we  should  pause  an  instant :  because,  much  as  it  may 
have  been  suspected  that  the  North  American  government  of  those 
times  looked  with  great  sympathy  upon  the  efforts  and  success  of 
the  bold  adventurer,  it  must  be  remembered  that  its  official  proceed- 
ings were  of  scrupulous  correctness." 


*  See  the  war  in  Nicaragua— 266,267. 

•j-The  imputation  is  an  insult  to  history,  and  an  impeachment  of  that 
exalted  standard  of  international  justice  which  this  nation  has  ever  main- 
tained. 


I860.]  Nicaragua.  107 

In  the  third  place,  I  have  already  exploded  the 
idea  that  Walker's  army  was  recruited  mainly  from 
the  population  of  the  Southern  States  of  North  Amer^ 
ica,  I  have  shown  that  they  were  soldiers  of  for- 
tune— adventurers — drawn  from  every  quarter  of  the 
globe — 

"  The  cankers  of  a  long  peace  and  a  calm  world." 

This  view  is  likewise  confirmed  by  Senator  Zam- 
brana,  when  he  describes  Walker's  followers  as  "  the 
scum  of  the  world. " 

Having  corrected  these  prevalent  fallacies,  errors, 
mistakes,  in  regard  to  General  Walker's  aims  and 
his  connection  with  history  and  the  United  States, 
let  us  follow  his  declining  fortunes  to  their  pathetic, 
heartrending  close. 

Walker,  unfortunately,  in  addition  to  his  failure  to 
make  the  most  of  the  opportunity  which  fortune  had 
offered  him,  failed  likewise  to  recognize  the  truth 
that  a  great  opportunity  once  lost  is  lost  forever. 
"  Wreck  and  ruin,"  says  the  philosopher,  "  if  thou 
have  dared  when  the  occasion  was  not  thine."  And 
so  our  hero  eventually  discovered.  His  career,  after 
his  deportation  from  Nicaragua  in  May,  1857,  was  a 
series  of  petty  annoyances  and  unfortunate  mishaps. 

He  announces  boldly  and  openly  that  he  does  not 
mean  to  abandon  the  "  regeneration  "  of  Nicaragua. 
"  By  the  bones  of  the  mouldering  dead  at  Masaya,  at 
Rivas,  and  at  Granada,"  he  exclaims  to  his  com- 
rades, "  I  adjure  you  never  to  abandon  the  cause  of 


108  Nicaragua.  [I860- 

Nicaragua.  Let  it  be  your  waking  and  your  sleep- 
ing thought  to  devise  means  for  a  return  to  the  land 
whence  we  were  unjustly  brought.  And  if  we  be  but 
true  to  ourselves  all  will  yet  end  well." 

But  all  did  not  end  well  for  our  unfortunate  hero. 
In  November  following  his  capture,  he  returned  to 
Nicaragua  and  organized  a  new  force,  but  Commo- 
dore Paulding,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  compelled 
him  to  surrender,  and  carried  him  with  132  followers 
back  to  New  York.  Under  what  phase  or  construc- 
tion of  international  law  Commodore  Paulding  acted 
it  is  difficult  to  conceive.  Walker  had  renounced  his 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  become  a  natu- 
ralized citizen  of  Nicaragua.  He  was  on  her  terri- 
tory, engaging  in  one  of  her  annual  or  semi-annual 
revolutions,  and  was  not  amenable  to  any  authority 
but  her  own.  This  view  was  taken  by  President 
James  Buchanan,  one  of  our  profoundest  publicists, 
who  refused  to  recognize  Walker  as  a  prisoner  of 
State,  and  ordered  his  release.  He  was  tried  also  in 
the  United  States  District  Court  at  New  Orleans  for 
a  violation  of  our  neutrality  laws.  He  was  acquitted. 

Moreover,  it  is  more  than  intimated  by  individuals 
personally  cognizant  of  those  events — original  autho- 
rities— that  after  Walker  had  landed  at  Greytown  and 
taken  Castillo,  commercial  interests,  partly  British, 
no  doubt,  were  appealed  to  against  him.  A  meeting, 
said  to  have  been  in  the  interest  of  the  Panama  rail- 
road,  was  held  in  the  office  of  the  American  consul, 
F.  W.  Rice,  and  Commodore  Paulding,  of  United 


I860.]  Nicaragua.  109 

States  Navy,  being  in  port,  was  persuaded  to  come 
to  Greytown  and  demand  his  surrender 

Another  party  on  the  "Susan "  Walker  not  being 
on  board,  was  wrecked  off  the  coast  of  Belize,  the 
men  taken  to  Belize,  kindly  treated  and  sent  home. 

Again,  in  October,  1858,  he  tried  his  fortune  by 
organizing  a  small  company  in  Mobile,  Alabama, 
and  setting  his  face  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  however,  he  was  ar- 
rested and  brought  back.  He  was  tried  in  the  United 
States  District  Court  at  New  Orleans  for  a  violation 
of  neutrality  laws  and  acquitted. 

If,  with  this  verdict  in  his  favor  and  a  record  of 
many  hardy  and  daring  adventures,  our  hero  had 
remained  content,  it  is  possible  that  his  genius  for 
war  would  have  found  employment  in  a  very  short 
time  at  home.  But  a  restless  spirit  or  an  unrelent- 
ing fate  impelled  him  forward  to  new  fields  of  ad- 
venture. 

On  the  6th  day  of  August,  1860,  Walker  landed 
on  the  eastern  coast  of  Honduras,  at  Truxillo,  and 
immediately  issued  his  proclamation  against  the 
government  and  called  for  volunteers  to  start  a  revo- 
lution. In  those  countries,  unfortunately,  a  revolu- 
tion takes  the  place  of  a  political  campaign.  The 
standard  of  insurrection  there  is  only  what  we  would 
call  a  "  bolt  from  the  convention."  * 

As  we  have  heretofore  seen,  however,  the  Central 
Americans  are  naturally  and  justly  jealous  of  any 

*  See  Ford's  Tropical  America,  p.  385. 


110  Nicaragua.  [1860. 

foreign  interference;  and  this  fact  has  invested 
the  1st  day  of  May  with  a  ludicrously  exaggerated 
importance  as  an  anniversary.  According  to  Sena- 
tor Zambrana — Thermopylae,  Marathon  and  Salamis 
must  pale  their  ineffectual  fires  in  presence  of  the 
grand  result  of  driving  Walker  out  of  Nicaragua. 

When  Walker  landed  at  Truxillo  he  had  with  him 
about  ninety  followers,  composed  of  various  nation- 
alities, recruited,  doubtless,  mainly  in  the  United 
States. 

The  night  of  August  6th  he  disembarked  from  the 
three  launches,  and  marching  into  the  town,  took 
possession  of  the  Fort  and  custom-house.  The  peace- 
ful inhabitants  were  panic-stricken,  and  many  fled 
the  town.  Walker,  as  we  have  said,  issued  his  pro- 
nunciamento — without  which  a  Spanish-American 
revolution  would  be  an  opera  without  music. 

It  seems  that  Walker  had  been  in  communication 
with  the  inhabitants  in  the  island  of  Ruatan,  a  Mexi- 
can island  in  the  bay  of  Honduras,  and  it  is  said  they 
promised  him  assistance  should  he  reach  there.  His 
aim  seems  to  have  been  to  march  through  Honduras 
to  Ruatan,  and  to  proceed  thence  to  Nicaragua. 
Whether  or  not  this  was  his  original  intention  it  cer- 
tainly became  his  final  ineffectual  aim. 

Scarcely  had  Walker  time  to  look  around  him  in 
Truxillo,  when  the  "Icarus"  a  British  vessel,  under 
command  of  Captain  Salmon,  of  the  British  Navy, 
made  its  appearance  in  port.  The  commander  at 
once  demanded  Walker's  surrender  to  the  British, 


I860.]  Nicaragua.  Ill 

with  promise  of  safe  transportation  to  the  United 
States. 

Very  naturally,  Walker  declined  with  thanks — so 
much  the  worse  for  our  intrepid  adventurer's  fate  in 
the  end — but  for  his  fame,  so  much  the  better.  To 
but  few  men  is  reserved  the  boon  of  dying  bravely 
in  the  sight  of  history,  and  in  his  own  sphere  the 
bravest  of  the  filibusters  (John  Brown  not  excepted) 
was  Walker. 

But  the  British  commander  insisted  upon  his  sur- 
render or  evacuation.  He  chose  the  latter,  and  on 
the  night  of  the  21st  of  August,  1860,  he  left  Truxillo, 
abandoned  his  position,  not  to  superior  force  of  Cen- 
tral Americans,  but  to  British  dictation. 

His  idea  and  intention  were  to  proceed  down  the 
coast  to  the  mouth  of  the  Roman  river  and  thence 
to  Swan  Island,  whence  he  could  open  communica- 
tion with  Ruatan,  the  people  of  which  island  had 
encouraged  him,  as  Walker  alleged,  to  make  his  last 
descent  upon  Central  America, 

Accordingly,  at  midnight,  on  the  21st  of  August, 
Walker  marched  out  of  Truxillo  with  eighty-eight 
men,  and  proceeded  down  the  coast  in  the  direction 
of  the  Roman  river.  On  the  morning  of  the  24th, 
he  had  reached  a  point  called  Cotton  Tree,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Roman  river  and  about  thirty  miles 
above  its  mouth.  Here  he  was  surprised  by  a  force 
of  Honduran  soldiers,  but  he  quickly  rallied  and 
formed  his  little  army  and  repulsed  the  enemy  with 
his  "  deadly  rifles."  While  in  advance  of  his  troops 


112  Nicaragua.  [1860. 

he  himself  was  wounded  in  the  face,  but  he  quickly 
brought  down  his  assailant.  It  is  said  that  the  loss 
of  the  Hondurans  was,  out  of  all  proportion,  greater 
than  that  of  the  filibusters. 

On  the  night  after  the  battle  of  Cotton  Tree, 
Walker  resumed  his  march  down  the  river  until  he 
reached  in  safety  a  place  called  Limon.  Here  he 
was  hospitably  received  and  entertained  by  the  Carib 
Indians,  who  predominate  in  the  population.  On 
the  27th  of  August,  he  reached  in  safety  the  Black,  or 
Tonto,  river  (Rio  Negro).  Here  he  encamped,  being 
but  two  and  one-half  miles  from  the  sea  coast,  and 
remained  for  three  days,  resting  and  recruiting  his 
men.  The  Hondurans  .having  no  navy,  Walker  felt 
himself  secure  from  further  pursuit,  as,  undoubtedly, 
he  would  have  been,  but  for  the  entirely  unwar- 
ranted and  unjustifiable  interference  of  the  British. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  two  British  cutters,  car- 
rying forty  British  marines,  and  200  Honduran 
soldiers,  commanded  by  Captain  Salmon  of  the 
"Icarus,"  accompanied  by  General  Don  Mariano 
Alvarez  commanding  the  army  of  Honduras,  stepped 
ashore  and  demanded  an  interview  with  Walker. 

It  is  said  there  was  a  strange  contrast  between  the 
Unshaken,  quiet,  coolness,  and  dignity  of  General 
Walker,  and  the  assurance  and  bluster  of  the  young 
British  captain  of  the  Icarus. 

That  the  authorities  of  Honduras  had  a  perfect 
right  to  capture  Walker,  and  shoot  him,  too,  for  that 
matter,  seems  too  plain  for  argument.  But  by  what 


I860.]  Nicaragua.  113 

right  or  title  the  British  interfered  and  captured  our 
American  adventurer  is  not  easily  explained,  to  be 
perceived  or  understood.  But  so  it  was.  Walker 
would  not  surrender  his  sword  until  he  had  twice 
demanded  to  know  if  the  surrender  were  made  to  a 
British  officer,  to  which  inquiry  Captain  Salmon 
twice  replied,  "  Yes,  you  surrender  to  me  as  a  British 
officer." 

Accordingly,  all  the  arms  of  the  prisoners  were 
delivered  up  to  the  British  marines,  and  the  filibus- 
ters themselves  were  placed  under  the  guard  of  these 
British  troops. 

On  that  night  while  the  men  were  all  asleep, 
General  Walker  and  his  second  in  command,  Colonel 
Rudler,  were  seized  and  taken  on  board  the  "Icarus" 
and  the  next  morning  (September  4,  I860,)  all  the 
prisoners  were  taken  aboard  and  the  British  craft 
weighed  anchor,  and  steamed  up  to  Truxillo,  where 
she  arrived  that  night.  On  the  morning  of  the  5th, 
the  men  of  Walker's  little  army  were  marched  off 
the  ship  and  paraded  in  front  of  300  Honduran 
soldiers. 

General  Walker  and  Colonel  Rudler  were  then  by 
Captain  Salmon  formally  delivered  over  to  the  Hon- 
duran authorities,  while  the  remainder  of  the  men 
were  marched  away  to  prison,  still  under  guard  of 
the  British  marines.  Of  course,  guerilleros  and 
filibusters,  and  the  like  adventurers,  who  engage  in 
private  warfare  and  fight  without  a  flag,  cannot  ex- 
pect to  be  treated  according  to  the  usages  of  war. 


114  Nicaragua.  [I860. 

Nevertheless,  a  solemn  engagement  of  a  British  offi- 
cer, whereby  he  secured  the  surrender  of  an  adven- 
turer who  trusted  to  the  religion  that  blood  was 
thicker  than  water,  it  would  seem  should  have  been 
regarded  obligatory  and  imperative. 

But  such  was  not  the  case.  Walker  and  Rudler, 
after  being  thus  formally  delivered  over  to  the  Hon- 
durans,  were  heavily  ironed  and  placed  in  dark  cells, 
and  no  one  was  allowed  to  communicate  with  them. 
Rudler  was  sentenced  to  four  years  of  imprisonment. 
On  the  llth  of  September,  the  other  prisoners  were 
informed  by  Mr.  Squier,  an  American,  that  the 
general  was  to  be  shot  the  next  day. 

On  entering  the  prison  he  was  immediately  placed 
in  heavy  irons,  and  on  being  asked  if  he  needed  any- 
thing, replied  with  a  single  phrase — "  Water." 

In  his  autobiography  he  informs  us  that  he  was  of 
Protestant  parentage,  but  had  no  hostility  towards 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  He  selected  as  his  am- 
bassador to  the  United  States  Father  Vigil,  a  Catho- 
lic priest.  We  find,  however,  in  this  same  autobiog- 
raphy indications  of  infidelity.  He,  in  one  place, 
seems  to  dispute  the  existence  of  a  personal  God  by 
applying  the  impersonal  pronoun  "it"  to  the  ever- 
lasting and  everblessed  Supreme  Providence. 

Upon  the  fatal  cauquete  (coffin),  however,  Walker 
thought  differently.  He  sent  for  the  chaplain  of  the 
post  (a  Catholic,  of  course),  and  sought  religious  con- 
solation. 

He  died,  as  his  enemies  tell  us,  "full  of  resigna- 


I860.]  Nicaragua.  115 

tion."  "I  am  resigned  to  death,"  said  he  to  the 
priest;  "my  political  career  is  ended." 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  September  12th, 
Walker  was  marched  to  the  place  of  execution — the 
Plaza  de  Armas,  the  old  Square  of  Arms — and  shot. 

Alas,  for  the  ring  of  rifles  on  the  Plaza.  It  took 
just  ten  soldiers  to  dispatch  our  brave  adventurer, 
nine  in  rapid  succession,  and  a  tenth  after  the  shud- 
der of  a  short  interval.  He  died  instantly. 

As  for  details,  we  are  told  he  marched  to  the  place 
of  execution  with  military  step,  a  crucifix  in  his 
hand.  He  looked  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left,  in- 
tent only  on  the  diapason  of  those  glorious  Psalms 
of  David,  which  the  priest  who  accompanied  him 
never  ceased  to  recite. 

As  for  his  last  speech  before  the  fatal  fusillade,  the 
better  account  is  that  he  was  too  hoarse  to  make  him- 
self heard,  and  requested  the  priest  who  attended 
him  to  say  a  few  words  to  the  people.  The  reverend 
Father  was  a  Honduran,  and  a  Roman  Catholic,  and 
what  he  said,  even  if  correctly  reported,  which  is 
doubtful,  must  be  regarded  as  rather  the  translation 
of  what  his  confessor  thought  Walker  ought  to  say 
than  a  reproduction  of  what  he  himself  had  actually 
dictated. 

We  may  not  doubt  from  the  evidence  that  he  in- 
structed his  confessor  to  say  :  "  I  die  in  the  faith  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  I  ask  merciful  treat- 
ment for  my  comrades,  as  I  alone  am  responsible  for 
this  expedition.  If  the  sacrifice  of  my  life  can  be  of 
any  benefit  to  society,  I  lay  it  down  with  the  greatest 


116  Nicaragua.  [1860. 

readiness.  I  pardon  my  judges  that  I  may  be  able 
to  obtain  my  own  pardon  in  the  next  world." 

Although  there  was  a  shout  of  soldiers  at  his  death, 
yet  we  are  told  by  an  eye-witness  :  "  The  citizens  of 
the  town  pitied  him,  and  in  the  whole  crowd  there 
was  not  one  glad  countenance." 

The  shout  of  the  soldiers — those  soldiers  whom  he 
had  defeated  more  than  once,  and  who  were  indebted 
to  the  British  for  their  victim — was  heard  by  his  de- 
voted and  sorrowing  companions,  and  they  knew 
what  it  meant. 

The  Hondurans  refused  to  bury  him.  A  few  for- 
eigners, Americans  and  others,  took  up  the  pros- 
trate soldier  and  bore  him  to  the  Carnpo  Santo — the 
Sacred  Camp — in  which  our  brave  filibuster — "the 
grey-eyed  man  of  destiny" — "the  greatest  of  the  sol- 
diers of  fortune" — now  sleeps  in  his  narrow  tent 
"until  that  day." 

Walker  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six.  In  person  he 
was  slender  and  of  medium  height ;  his  movements 
were  rapid  and  nervous  ;  in  manner  he  was  usually 
undemonstrative,  always  calm  ;  in  repose,  a  rather 
handsome,  almost  clerical  face,  with  regular  quiet 
features,  of  no  particular  significance  ;  but  when 
aroused,  they  were  illuminated  by  an  eye  like  the 
glint  of  broken  steel. 

If  the  "  poet  of  the  Sierras"  had  given  us  a  sketch 
of  Walker's  personal  appearance  containing  more 
truth  and  less  poetry,  he  would  have  conferred  a 
favor  upon  history.  As  it  is,  his  photograph  of  the 
filibuster,  with  "presence  like  a  chevalier,  half  an- 


I860.]  Nicaragua.  117 

gel  and  half  Lucifer,"  is  pure  fiction.  He  was,  says 
General  Rivas  (a  native  Nicaraguan),  "intelligent, 
Very  active,  temperate,  valiant  and  unshakable  in  his 
purposes."  It  is  with  singular  unanimity  testified 
that  he  was  free  from  those  vices  which  beset  his 
comrades,  the  adventurers  by  whom  he  was  attended. 
He  was,  as  is  conceded,  kind  and  merciful  to  prison- 
ers of  war  ;  and  the  character  of  the  men  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded,  as  well  as  that  of  the  adversaries 
with  whom  he  contended  (as  has  been  well  observed 
by  one  who  knew  him  well),  certainly  plead  much  in 
palliation  of  his  despotic  and  sometimes  cruel  dispo- 
sitions. One  of  his  surviving  followers  says:  "In 
my  youthful  enthusiasm  I  thought  our  chief  a  hero, 
and  though  in  after  years  I  learned  to  judge  his  char- 
acter more  dispassionately,  I  have  no  reason  to 
change  my  general  estimate  of  him.  He  was  proba- 
bly the  greatest  of  all  the  soldiers  of  fortune." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  the  greatest  and  best 
of  the  filibusters. 

Lopez,  John  Brown,  Maximillian,  none  of  these 
could  compare  with  Walker  in  military  genius.  His 
great  forte  was  celerity  of  movement.  Thus,  as  we 
have  seen,  on  the  12th  of  October,  1856,  he  attacks 
Masaya  ;  on  the  14th  he  returns  to  the  relief  of  Gran- 
ada, and  routs  Zavala  ;  thence  he  proceeds  to  the 
Meridional  Department,  and  on  November  the  12th 
assails  Canas,  commanding  a  force  more  than  double 
his  own,  near  Rivas,  and  routs  him  with  severe  loss; 
on  the  next  day  (November  13th)  he  returns  to  Vir- 
gin's Bay  and  embarks  for  Granada,  and  on  the  16th, 


118  Nicaragua..  [1860. 

with  only  300  men,  again  attacks  the  Allies  behind 
the  barricades  of  Masaya.  Thus,  in  a  little  over  one 
month,  he  fought  four  pitched  battles  and  covered  a 
territory  embracing  the  defence  of  two  departments. 

As  Walker  was  undoubtedly  the  ablest,  so  I  think 
We  may  say  with  equal  truth  that  he  was  the  best  of 
our  American  filibusters  of  his  day  and  generation. 

Lopez,  the  Cuban,  at  one  time  united  with  the 
Spanish  against  his  own  countrymen,  and  only 
espoused  the  cause  of  liberty  after  he  had  lost  the 
patronage  of  the  tyrant. 

John  Brown  differed  from  Walker  in  this,  that  he 
pointed  his  pikes  against  the  breasts  of  his  own 
countrymen.  Walker,  it  is  true,  proclaimed  all  of 
his  opponents  to  be  traitors,  and  their  lives  and 
property  forfeited  to  the  Republic;  but  he  never  pro- 
mulgated any  decree  as  bloody  as  that  of  Maximillian 
of  October  3,  1865;  and  where,  under  pretext  of 
military  law,  Walker  shot  one  opponent  or  prisoner 
of  State,  it  is  probable  that  the  infamous  Austro- 
Belgian  mercenaries  of  Maximillian,  without  any 
pretense  of  trial  whatever,  murdered  more  than  an  100. 

The  Central  Americans  seem  to  cherish  no  hatred 
of  nor  bitterness  toward  Walker  ;  it  is  possible,  there- 
fore, that  these  natives  would  conceive  no  offence 
should  some  kind-hearted  Americans  replace  the 
rough  stone  that,  under  the  cross  of  the  Sacred  Camp 
of  Truxillo,  marks  the  grave  of  the  "  grey-eyed  man 
of  destiny,"  with  some  more  enduring  and  imposing 
shaft;  inscription — 

Here  lies  the  bravest,  best,  and  last  of  the  American  filibusters ! " 


THE  NICARAGUAN  CANAL. 


By  the  courtesy  of  my  distinguished  friend,  Judge 
Lucas,  I  have  been  asked  to  write  this  chapter  for 
his  book.  My  pleasure  in  complying  with  his  re- 
quest was  to  some  extent  lessened  by  the  knowledge 
that  my  official  and  business  engagements  would 
prevent  my  giving  this  great  question  the  attention 
it  deserves.  The  information  herein  contained  is 
derived  from  general  and  official  sources,  but  espe- 
cially am  I  indebted  to  ex-Senator  Warner  Miller, 
Senator  Morgan,  Senator  Frye  and  the  late  Commo- 
dore Maury — four  great  masters  of  the  subject  of  the 
Inter-oceanic  canal. 

WM.  A.  MACCORKLE. 

Executive  Chamber, 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  December  16,  1895. 


THE  NICARAGUA^    CANAL. 


WITH  but  few  exceptions  imperial  possessions  have 
resulted  from  the  demands  of  commerce,  rather  than 
from  the  desire  of  war.  Commerce,  not  war,  has  been 
the  real  king.  The  discovery  of  new  worlds  and  new 
countries  arose  from  the  needs  of  commerce.  The 
desire  to  penetrate  to  the  East  Indies  by  an  easy  and 
short  route,  engage  in  trade  and  gather  there  for 
Europe  the  glittering  gems,  the  rich  spices  and  soft 
silks  of  the  East,  brought  about  the  discovery  of  our 
continent.  Its  discovery  is  most  pertinent  to  the 
questions  which  I  propose  to  briefly  discuss. 

Ever  since  Columbus  discovered  America,  in  the 
minds  of  all  those  interested  in  commerce  has  dwelt 
the  question  of  the  possibility  of  crossing  the  Ameri- 
can continent  by  water.  It  has  been  the  dream  of 
the  rulers  and  has  been  thought  over  and  pondered 
by  the  great  kings  of  commerce  for  three  hundred 
years.  Even  Columbus,  flushed  with  the  discovery 
of  the  continent,  was  disappointed  when  he  could  not 
cross  over  that  continent  by  ship,  plunge  into  un- 
known seas  and  reach  the  shores  of  India.  The 
swarthy  Spaniard,  the  sturdy  Englishman,  the  vigor- 
ous Frenchman,  the  enterprising  German,  have  all 
turned  their  attention  to  discovering  the  secret  of  the 

[123] 


124  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

Strait.  Columbus,  D'Avilla,  Balboa,  Cortez,  Ponce 
de  Leon,  and  Captain  Smith,  all  were  engaged  in 
finding  an  entrance  through  which  the  waters  of  one 
sea  mingled  with  the  waters  of  the  other.  War,  the 
acquisition  of  slaves,  gold  and  gems,  were  the  occu- 
pation of  these  hardy  adventurers,  but  above  all  was 
the  imperial  mandate  to  cross  over  to  the  other  water. 
The  beautiful  incident  of  Pocahontas  was  occasioned 
by  the  attempt  of  the  sturdy  Englishman  to  find  a 
water  path  across  the  continent  into  the  Pacific. 
Even  in  the  twilight  of  commerce  every  one  with 
commercial  instincts  appreciated  the  importance  of 
this  passage  way,  and  unceasing  were  their  attempts 
to  find  it.  To  find  a  pass  was,  in  the  estimation  of 
these  navigators,  to  discover  an  empire  of  trade. 
From  the  snows  of  North  America  to  the  succeeding 
snows  of  South  America,  through  inlet,  bay,  gulf,  and 
river  ranged  vessels  attempting  to  find  a  passage 
way.  The  fierce  cruelty  and  savage  unrest  of  the  last 
days  of  Spanish  military  and  commercial  power  are 
brightened  with  the  dying  glory  of  their  attempt  to 
find  this  great  artery  of  commerce.  Freighted  gal- 
leons, with  their  swarthy  commanders  and  savage 
crews,  panoplied  in  leather  jerkin  and  iron  coat, 
have  been  succeeded  by  the  steamship,  yet  the  quest 
has  not  ceased.  The  Strait  does  not  exist,  and  the 
great  question  to-day  before  a  commercial  world  is, 
"Can  man  do  what  nature  has  not  done,  and  will  it 
be  profitable  to  do  what  nature  did  not  see  fit  to  do?  " 
The  world  is  no  longer  isolated.  As  European 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  125 

populations  have  become  congested,  the  demands  of 
commerce  have  become  more  exacting  for  new  peo- 
ples, new  trades,  and  new  countries.  No  longer  can 
a  people  live  within  itself.  In  proportion  as  a  people 
has  become  a  sea  power,  just  in  proportion  has  its 
power  increased  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

To-day  this  is  England's  power.  Therefore  a  coun- 
try to  be  really  great  must  have  the  quickest  access 
to  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  shifting  sands  of 
the  Isthmus  of  Suez,  and  the  backbone  of  the  Cor- 
derillas  were  the  last  great  bars  to  commercial  free- 
dom. One  has  disappeared  and  the  civilization  of 
this  day  demands  the  passing  of  the  other. 

As  our  knowledge  of  this  hemisphere  has  widened, 
the  attention  of  the  world  has  been  directed  to  the 
lowest  altitude  of  the  Continental  mountains  and  to 
the  narrowest  portion  of  land  between  the  oceans. 
The  investigations,  therefore,  have  been  directed  to 
that  part  of  the  continent  lying  between  the  Gulf  of 
Campeachy  and  the  Gulf  of  Tehauntepec,  in  Central 
America,  and  the  Gulf  of  Darien,  on  the  Caribbean 
Sea.  From  these  investigations  three  routes  for  the 
Inter-oceanic  canal,  which  are  at  all  feasible,  have 
been  suggested.  They  are  the  Isthmus  of  Tehaun- 
tepec, lying  closer  to  the  United  States  than  any  other 
route  ;  the  Nicaraguan  route,  lying  within  the  States 
of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  and  the  Panama  route, 
lying  within  the  Republic  of  Columbia. 

No  part  of  the  world  has  been  surveyed,  re-sur- 
veyed, and  re-investigated  as  has  been  this  portion 


126  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

of  this  hemisphere.  Since  1771  there  have  been  made 
twenty-one  surveys  of  this  narrow  territory  between 
the  oceans.  The  great  question  is  which  route  is 
preferable,  which  one  is  the  cheapest,  and  which  one, 
all  things  considered,  will  best  serve  the  demands  of 
the  world's  commerce.  Every  selfish  commercial 
interest  demands  that  on  the  question  of  location 
the  United  States  should  favor  the  Tehauntepec 
route.  The  Isthmus  of  Tehauntepec  will  allow  the 
commerce  of  the  United  States  to  pass  through  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  from  the  Mississippi  river  into  the 
Pacific  Ocean  without  once  having  to  pass  through 
the  straits  leading  into  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  All  the  protection  needed  to  com- 
merce during  war  can  be  furnished  easily  by  this 
government  within  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and,  in  times 
of  peace,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  braving  the 
longer  voyage  and  the  winds  of  the  Caribbean  Sea. 
This  route  would  be  shorter,  cheaper,  and  every 
strategical  and  military  interest  would  demand  that 
we  seize  upon  it  in  preference  to  any  other.  The 
Tehauntepec  route  is  150  miles  in  length,  with  an 
altitude  of  765  feet.  This  great  altitude,  the  contour 
of  the  country,  and  the  want  of  water  at  the  summit 
militate  against  the  possibility  of  successful  water 
transportation  over  this  isthmus.  A  great  engineer 
presented  a  scheme  of  a  ship  railway  by  which  ships 
were  to  be  lifted  from  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Cam- 
peachy,  placed  upon  the  railroad,  dragged  across  the 
isthmus  in  bulk,  and  placed  again  in  the  waters  of 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  127 

the  Gulf  of  Tehauntepec,  on  the  Pacific  side.  Captain 
Eads,  with  the  great  ability  which  characterized  all 
of  his  undertakings,  impressed  the  advantages  of  a 
ship  railway  upon  the  country,  and  for  a  time  there 
were  people  well  versed  in  engineering  problems, 
who  believed  that  the  scheme  was  feasible.  In  the 
first  place,  leaving  out  the  question  of  the  feasibility 
of  this  great  undertaking,  it  has  been  demonstrated 
that  it  would  not  be  possible  for  ships  to  pay  the 
enormous  freight  demanded  by  the  vast  expenses 
necessarily  entailed  upon  their  passage  by  railroad. 
Railroad  traffic  is  from  five  to  ten  fold  more  expen- 
sive than  water  traffic,  and  the  expense  of  the  opera- 
tion of  this  road  would  be  enhanced  by  the  stupen- 
dous nature  of  the  paraphernalia  necessary  to  carry 
the  great  ships  of  modern  times.  To-day  the  plan 
of  the  ship  railway  is  dead  with  the  great  man  who 
conceived  the  idea.  For  all  purposes  of  a  ship  canal 
the  route  of  the  Isthmus  of  Tehauntepec  has  been 
abandoned  by  those  interested  in  the  canal. 

Passing  on  down  to  the  Republic  of  Columbia  we 
find  the  narrowest  part  of  the  coast,  the  isthmus  of 
Panama,  forty-seven  miles  in  width  with  an  altitude 
of  325  feet.  This  portion  of  the  isthmus  has  always 
had  a  fascination  for  minds  engaged  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  canal,  because  it  is  the  narrowest  portion 
of  land  on  the  hemisphere  dividing  the  two  oceans. 
A  sad  memory  lingers  around  this  narrow  neck  of 
land,  as  being  associated  with  the  failure  of  the 
great  man  who  attempted  to  build  here  the  inter- 


128  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

oceanic  canal.  Narrow,  it  is  true,  is  the  isthmus, 
but  engineering  problems  are  here  presented  which 
possibly  science  may  overcome,  but  not  without  the 
expenditure  of  vast  sums  of  money  which  would 
burden  ocean  traffic  more  than  it  could  bear.  The 
great  engineering  problems  here  are,  first,  the  Cha- 
gres  rivers,  with  its  great  variation  of  flow;  the  great 
Culebra  Cut,  with  its  walls  of  slippery  mud;  and  the 
want  of  water  at  the  summit  level  sufficient  to  feed 
the  canal.  The  French  company  undertook  to  canal- 
ize the  Chagres  river  and  crossed  that  stream  no  less 
than  twenty-seven  times,  because  they  had  not  studied 
its  character  and  they  wished  to  keep  near  the  river 
along  which  the  railroad  ran,  which  last  was  the 
base  of  their  supplies.  This  river  drains  fourteen  hun- 
dred square  miles,  and  the  volume  of  water  which 
poured  down  from  the  precipitous  sides  of  the  high 
mountains  of  its  water  shed  could  not  be  controlled 
by  any  human  agency. 

A  friend  of  mine,  a  former  manager  of  the  Panama 
railroad,  and  a  man  of  great  ability,  whose  experi- 
ence with  this  river  is  very  great,  informed  me  that 
in  twenty-four  hours  he  has  seen  the  Chagres  river 
rise  seventy  feet,  and  from  a  placid  stream  become  a 
tumultuous  mass  of  water,  absolutely  uncontrollable 
by  the  present  engineering  science.  In  his  judg- 
ment the  canal  could  never  be  built  across  the 
Panama  route.  It  was  attempted  by  De  Lesseps  to 
control  this  river  by  a  great  dam,  into  which  the 
overflow  could  go,  but  this  was  found  to  be  imprac-s 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  129 

ticable,  as  the  volume  of  water  in  the  rainy  season 
was  too  great.  To  obviate  this  difficulty  it  was  pro- 
posed to  construct  a  tunnel  nine  miles  through  the 
mountains,  and  carry  off  the  overflow  into  another 
valley.  The  great  canal  engineer  wedded  to  his  idea 
of  the  sea  level  Suez  canal,  depressed  the  bottom  of 
the  Panama  canal  to  the  sea  level.  This  intensified 
the  terrible  power  of  the  torrential  Chagres.  In 
addition  to  all  of  this,  by  reason  of  the  tides  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  being  only  one  and  three-fourths  feet 
in  height,  while  on  the  Pacific  coast  they  have  raised 
to  nineteen  feet,  it  was  seen  that  locks  would  be 
necessary.  Here  they  were  met  by  the  same  pro- 
blem as  at  Tehauntepec.  There  was  no  water  to 
supply  the  summit  level.  With  the  ingenuity  which 
characterized  this  great  man,  it  was  proposed  to 
pump  water  into  the  summit  basin.  When  it  came 
to  the  question  of  supplying  water  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  the  great  ocean  steamers  of  the  world  by 
pumping  it  into  the  inter-oceanic  passage,  even  the 
vigor  and  energy  of  the  French  nation  wore  out  and 
the  combat  with  nature  was  abandoned. 

The  other  difficulty  at  Panama  was  the  Culebra 
Cut,  which  consists  of  a  cut  of  sixty  million  cubic 
yards  of  soft,  slippery  rock,  laying  in  horizontal  lay- 
ers, which  will  not  stand  when  excavated.  If  pos- 
sible this  is  a  more  insurmountable  difficulty  than 
the  Chagres  river. 

These  are  the  chief  engineering  objections  to  Pan- 
ama, but  a  greater  commercial  objection  still  exists. 

9 


130  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

The  Isthmus  of  Panama  is  one  of  the  most  unhealthy 
sections  of  the  world,  and  it  lies  at  the  end  of  a  land- 
locked bay,  through  which  the  trade  winds  never 
blow,  and  the  location  of  the  canal  at  that  point 
would  require  the  towing  of  a  sailing  vessel  for  at 
least  one  hundred  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  canal. 

The  other  route  which  has  been  considered  is  the 
route  across  Nicaragua.  This  route  is  160  miles  in 
length,  with  an  altitude  of  153  feet,  as  against  an  alti- 
tude of  765  feet  at  Tehauntepec  and  325  feet  at  Pan- 
ama. 

At  first  contemplation  you  are  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  the  Nicaragua  route  is  more  than  one  hun- 
dred miles  longer  than  the  Panama  route.  This 
seeming  disadvantage  is  compensated  by  the  fact 
that  here  there  are  great  natural  advantages  for  this 
work.  By  the  Nicaragua  route  there  are  only  twenty- 
six  and  one-eighth  miles  of  excavation,  while  there  is 
free  navigation  in  the  lake  and  river  and  basins  of 
142  miles.  On  this  route  is  the  beautiful  fresh  water 
Lake  of  Nicaragua,  which,  with  a  little  dredging,  is 
deep  enough  for  the  largest  ships  of  the  world.  The 
San  Juan  river,  which  is  singularly  free  from  torren- 
tial variations,  completes  the  largest  part  of  the  re- 
mainder of  the  route.  The  consensus  of  opinion  of 
great  engineering  experts  and  the  reports  of  the  va- 
rious commissions  appointed  by  this  government 
have  all  been  to  the  effect  that  this  route  is  the  most 
feasible  one  across  Central  America. 

The  problems  involved  in  this  work  are  the  great- 


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The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  131 

est  which  can  occupy  the  human  mind.  The  pas- 
sions and  small  affairs  of  every  day  life  are  dwarfed 
when  considering  these  most  interesting  questions. 
To  discuss  the  construction  of  this  canal  it  is  neces- 
sary to  look  not  alone  into  the  mere  engineering  pro- 
blems, but  into  all  of  the  questions  which  necessarily 
arise  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  work.  All  of 
the  great  questions  which  disturb  the  world  inhere 
in  this  discussion.  The  question  of  diplomacy,  of 
military  strategy,  of  commerce,  and  of  engineering, 
all  here  find  their  highest  level,  and  all  have  been 
contemplated  in  every  phase  by  the  nations  of  the' 
earth. 

Even  if  the  writer  had  the  ability  it  would  be  im- 
possible within  the  limits  of  these  few  pages  to  more 
than  briefly  discuss  the  salient  points  of  each  one  of 
these  great  problems.  They  are  all  of  great  interest, 
and  the  one  which  naturally  arises  for  consideration 
first  in  the  minds  of  men  is  the  engineering  ques- 
tion. From  an  engineering  or  constructive  stand- 
point, can  the  canal  be  built?  Men  versed  in  such 
matters  say  that  it  is  feasible. 

While  the  writer  has  no  special  knowledge  of  en- 
gineering science,  still,  from  the  many  surveys  and 
elaborate  reports  and  careful  examinations  of  great 
engineers,  he  may  briefly  and  in  a  general  manner 
discuss  the  constructive  features  of  the  canal. 

On  this  route  there  are  no  problems  which  have 
not  been  met  by  engineering  science.  Enormous 
dams  are  needed,  but  already  larger  ones  are  in  use 


132  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

in  this  country.  Great  locks  are  demanded,  but 
there  are  to-day  more  capacious  ones  in  the  United 
States.  Great  masses  of  rock  are  required  to  be  re- 
moved, but  far  more  stupendous  operations  in  rock 
work  have  been  carried  out  in  the  engineering  world. 
Much  dredging  is  necessary,  but  on  our  lakes  there 
has  been  as  much  required  and  successfully  com- 
pleted. 

The  harbor  at  Greytown,  the  Ochoa  Dam,  and  the 
Great  Divide  Cut  are  the  three  great  works  confront- 
ing engineering  science.  The  first  consideration  for 
the  engineers  is,  is  there  a  sufficient  and  abundant 
supply  of  water  at  the  higher  levels  not  subject  to 
great  fluctuations  of  rise  and  fall?  As  I  have  else- 
where shown  this  want  destroys  the  feasibility  of  the 
Panama  route. 

The  central  figure  of  the  Nicaraguan  canal  is  the 
great  lake  of  Nicaragua.  This  lake  furnishes  the 
only  solution  as  to  the  supply  of  water  on  the  Cen- 
tral American  Isthmus.  It  is  106  feet  above  the  sea 
level  and  furnished  daily  ten  times  the  amount  of 
water  required  for  the  operation  of  the  canal.  A 
great  water  shed,  drained  by  this  lake  and  Lake 
Managua,  restricts  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  San  Juan 
river,  its  outlet,  to  a  maximum  of  five  feet. 

Lake  Nicaragua  approaches  the  Pacific  on  the 
western  side  to  within  twelve  and  a  half  miles.  By  the 
river  San  Juan,  its  outlet  towards  the  Atlantic,  it  is 
sixty-four  and  one-half  miles.  The  lake  navigation 
itself  will  be  fifty-six  and  a  half  miles. 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  133 

The  Lake  Nicaragua  itself  is  a  body  of  water  of  110 
miles  in  length  and  forty  miles  in  average  width,  and 
averages  from  eighteen  to  150  feet  in  depth.  At  Fort 
St.  Carlos,  the  outlet  of  the  lake  into  San  Juan  river 
on  its  way  to  the  Atlantic,  for  some  miles  there  will- 
be  a  large  amount  of  bottom  dredging  necessary. 
This  is  through  soft  mud  and  the  engineers  have 
reported  that  it  is  entirely  feasible. 

The  river  San  Juan  is  from  500  to  1,200  feet  in 
width  and  will  be  followed  by  the  canal  for  a  distance 
sixty-four  and  one-half  miles  from  the  lake  to  the 
dam,  at  Ochoa,  just  above  its  connection  with  the 
Machado  river.  At  this  place  a  great  dam  will  be  con- 
structed, which  will  make  the  river  the  same  summit 
level  as  that  of  the  lake.  This  will  give  slack  water 
navigation  the  whole  distance  from  the  Ochoa  dam 
into  and  across  the  lake.  At  this  point  the  San  Juan 
river  strikes  the  lowlands  and  from  Ochoa  is  tortuous 
and  shallow  and  will  no  longer  be  followed.  The 
canal  will  be  constructed  through  the  valleys  of  the 
San  Francisco  and  the  Deceado  rivers,  in  which 
valleys  great  basins  will  be  formed  by  large  em- 
bankments; the  sea  level  being  reached  by  three 
locks.  The  east  lock  on  the  Atlantic  side  being 
nine  and  one-fourth  miles  from  Greytown,  which 
gives  a  summit  level  of  153£  miles  out  a  total  dis- 
tance of  169i  miles. 

On  the  western  side  the  last  lock  is  only  three  and 
one-half  miles  from  Brito  on  the  Pacific  coast.  It 
will  require  seventeen  and  one-fourth  miles  of  canal 


134  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

from  the  shores  of  the  lake  to  the  port  at  Brito  on  the 
Pacific.  Of  that  distance  eleven  and  forty-four  hun- 
dred ths  miles  will  be  wholly  in  excavation  and  five 
and  six-tenths  miles  through  the  basin  of  the  valleys 
of  the  rivers  Grand  and  Tola.  On  the  way  to  the 
ocean,  the  canal  will  go  through  a  great  depression 
in  the  valley  of  the  Tola,  which  by  means  of  a  dam, 
will  furnish  a  basin  of  water  of  4,000  acres  with  a 
width  of  13,000  feet.  There  will  be  three  locks  upon 
this  side  as  there  are  upon  the  Atlantic  side,  the 
greatest  of  which  will  be  650  feet  long,  eighty  feet 
wide  and  with  a  lift  of  forty-five  feet.  Between  the 
last  lock  on  the  Pacific  side  and  Brito,  the  canal  will 
be  used  as  an  enlarged  part  of  the  harbor. 

In  short,  the  Nicaragua  canal  will  consist  of  the 
great  basin  of  the  lake,  connected  with  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  by  the  San  Juan  river,  excavated  canal 
work  and  river  basins  on  the  Atlantic  side,  and  exca- 
vated canal  work  and  the  Tola  basin  on  the  side  of 
Pacific. 

One  of  the  great  problems  is  the  harbor  at  Grey- 
town.  This  was  formerly  a  good  harbor,  but  for 
many  years  has  been  closed  by  a  bar,  but  the  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  has  re-opened  this  harbor  by 
the  building  of  a  jetty  across  the  bar  for  the  space 
of  1,000  feet.  This  will  be  extended  for  a  distance 
of  1,700  feet,  forming  a  capacious  harbor.  This 
jetty  has  already  made  a  permanent  depth  of  ten  feet 
in  the  harbor,  which  will  be  increased  to  a  depth  of 
thirty  feet  by  dredging  and  by  the  action  of  the  water 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal  135 

upon  the  artificial  work.  When  this  is  completed 
the  largest  vessels  will  be  able  to  enter  the  harbor, 
and  it  will  be  capacious  enough  for  all  purposes  of 
navigation  and  safety.  The  harbor,  when  excavated, 
will  give  a  total  area  of  340  acres  of  water,  twenty- 
eight  feet  deep.  This  has  included  part  of  the  canal 
at  the  first  lock. 

At  Brito,  on  the  Pacific,  there  is  no  great  question 
as  to  the  possibility  of  constructing  the  harbor.  The 
plan  here  is  to  build  a  breakwater  which  will  extend 
from  a  promontory,  and  nearly  opposite  to  this  will 
be  constructed  another  breakwater.  It  is  believed 
there  will  be  no  trouble  in  the  construction  of  this 
harbor. 

One  of  the  most  stupendous  works  is  at  Ochoa, 
where  a  dam  is  constructed,  which  will  raise  the 
river  to  the  level  of  the  lake.  This  great  work  will 
be  1,200  hundred  feet  in  length  and  seventy  feet  in 
height,  but,  as  I  have  said  before,  this  dam  will  not 
be  as  large  as  many  that  are  at  present  in  existence. 
It  will  not  be  constructed  as  rock  dams  are  ordina- 
rily constructed  by  placing  rock  carefully  on  line, 
and  bound  by  cement,  but  will  consist  of  a  great 
mass  of  rock,  dumped  into  the  river  from  a  bridge 
overhead,  and  these  rocks  will  be  allowed  to  form  a 
natural  bed,  and  will  be  built  in  that  way  to  its 
height.  The  river  full  of  debris  percolating  through 
this  rough  wall  will,  in  a  comparatively  short  time, 
fill  up  the  gaps,  and  will  make  a  dam  that  no  dis- 
turbance of  the  earth  will  in  any  wise  interfere  with. 


136  The  Nicaraguan  CanaL 

Vast  and  extensive  weirs  will  be  constructed  here 
so  as  to  take  care  of  the  necessary  overflow  of  the 
water. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Deceado,  on  the  western  por- 
tion of  the  canal,  there  will  be  another  great  em^ 
bankment,  seventy  feet  high  and  1,050  feet  wide, 
which  will  make  a  basin  three  miles  long  with  a 
depth  of  from  thirty  to  seventy  feet.  In  addition  to 
this  great  basin  on  the  Atlantic  side,  and  so  near  to 
the  locks  on  the  eastern  side,  as  well  as  the  Tola 
basin  on  the  western  side,  there  will  be  two  great 
basins  or  reservoirs,  where  ships  can  rest  and  wait 
and  make  repairs,  and  where  they  can  pass  each 
other  under  full  speed  without  danger  to  navigation. 

The  Great  Divide  Cut  on  the  eastern  division  will 
be  one  of  the  most  stupendous  pieces  of  work  of  rock 
cutting  that  the  world  has  ever  seen.  It  will  require 
the  canal  to  be  cut  three  miles  through  an  average 
height  of  rock  140  feet,  and  a  maximum  height  of 
320  feet,  and  will  require  the  removal  of  12,000,000 
feet  of  rock.  This  rock  is  in  the  main  solid  rock, 
and  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  construction  of 
the  canal.  It  will  be  needed  in  the  great  dam  at 
Ochoa,  and  in  the  construction  of  the  jetties  at 
Greytown,  and  in  the  building  of  the  locks. 

The  depth  of  the  canal  is  thirty  feet,  and  the 
lowest  width  on  the  bottom  will  be  100  feet.  There 
is  a  total  distance  from  ocean  to  ocean  of  169i  miles, 
of  which  there  will  be  free  navigation  in  the  lake, 
river  and  basins  of  142£  miles.  The  width  and  depth 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  137 

of  the  canal  with  its  lakes  and  wide  basins  will  be  a 
great  economy  of  time,  and  it  will  only  require  twenty- 
eight  hours  to  pass  through,  against  about  thirty- 
one  in  the  Suez  canal.  By  comparison  with  the 
Suez,  we  find  that  the  latter  canal  is  eighty-eight 
miles  in  length,  of  which  there  is  sixty-six  miles 
cut  through  the  earth  in  excavation.  For  eight 
miles  there  was  no  work  whatever  on  the  Suez,  the 
natural  depressions  already  existing. 

The  locks  used  upon  this  canal  are  about  the  same 
as  that  used  on  the  Sault  St.  Marie  canal.  Their 
great  size  may  give  no  uneasiness  as  to  their  ability 
to  do  the  work  required.  The  lift  of  forty-five  feet 
is  but  small  as  compared  with  the  lift  of  the  lock 
which  is  being  constructed  between  Lake  Erie  and 
Lake  Ontario.  This  latter  lock  has  a  lift  of  eighty 
feet,  and  is  said  to  be  entirely  feasible.  The  Nica- 
ragua canal  has  been  constructed  upon  a  plan  suffi- 
ciently ample  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  world's 
commerce.  Profiting  by  the  example  of  Suez,  the 
original  estimates  are  made  large  enough  to  do  away 
with  any  possibility  of  an  increase  in  capacity  being 
required  for  many  years  to  come. 

This  great  work  will  require  a  vast  amount  of 
money,  and  no  private  corporation  or  person  will 
be  able  to  build  it.  It  is  proposed  that  this  govern- 
ment furnish  the  money,  and  the  plan  proposed  in 
the  last  Congress  was  that  $70,000,000  out  of  a  $100,- 
000,000  in  stock  should  be  transferred  to  the  United 
States,  giving  the  power  to  this  government  or  its 


138  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

representatives  to  vote  a  majority  of  the  shares;  the 
government  reserving  all  power  to  alter,  amend  and 
repeal  the  charter. 

Out  of  fifteen  directors,  six  were  to  be  appointed 
by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  if  neces- 
sary the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could  control  the 
other  70,000,000,  and  thus  give  the  United  States  a 
majority  of  .the  directors.  Five  million  dollars  was 
to  be  given  to  Nicaragua  for  its  concession,  and 
1,500,000  was  to  be  given  to  Costa  Rica.  The  Mari- 
time Canal  Company  was  to  have  the  money  ex- 
pended by  them  repaid  and  a  comparatively  small 
sum  for  its  concession.  Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua 
were  each  to  have  a  director.  The  government  of 
the  United  States  was  to  guarantee  the  bonds  of  the 
company  to  the  extent  of  $100,000,000  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  canal,  if  that  was  necessary  for  the 
construction,  and  said  bonds  were  to  be  delivered 
upon  the  certificate  of  the  United  States  engineers, 
that  work  in  proportion  had  been  completed.  The 
construction  of  the  canal  was  to  be  under  the  control 
of  the  engineering  department  of  the  United  States 
Government.  It  is  impossible  to  see  how  the  govern- 
ment could  make  a  better  contract.  Upon  the  lowest 
estimate  of  revenue  at  the  time  of  completion,  the 
government  would  have  a  large  per  cent,  upon  its  in- 
vestment. It  would  absolutely  control  the  canal  in 
every  sense  of  the  word,  and  by  furnishing  the  money 
no  private  individual  can  do,  it  would  relieve  the 
commerce  of  the  world  of  a  great  burden.  If  any 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  139 

private  corporation  attempted  to  complete  it,  the 
work  with  the  interest  on  the  borrowed  money  would 
cost  $250,000,000.  This  would  be  j-ust  that  increased 
burden  on  commerce.  From  all  data  it  seems  that 
as  an  engineering  question  there  is  no  doubt  about 
the  feasibility  of  the  enterprise. 

Conceding  that  the  building  of  the  canal  is  possi- 
ble, and  that  it  will  be  useful  to  commerce  when 
completed,  the  question  arises  from  whence  will 
come  its  revenue  ?  Will  the  canal  from  a  commer- 
cial standpoint  pay  ?  The  great  bounding  vigor  of 
American  commerce  answers  that  it  will  be  a  com- 
mercial success.  The  success  of  Suez  and  of  the 
Sault  St.  Marie  proclaims  in  terms  which  cannot  be 
mistaken  that  a  barrier  such  as  this  should  no  longer 
impede  commerce.  Let  us  compare  this  canal  with 
some  similar  works.  The  Sault  St.  Marie,  connect- 
ing Lake  Superior  and  Lake  Huron,  was  constructed 
in  1855.  This  was  for  those  days  a  large  work  with 
a  large  lock  and  with  a  canal  twelve  feet  in  depth, 
but  such  has  been  the  vast  increase  in  commerce 
that  the  government  has  here  constructed  a  lock 
800  feet  long ;  the  largest  lock  in  the  world.  The 
commercial  world  shows  nothing  like  the  increase  of 
trade  which  has  been  created  by  this  improvement. 
In  1881  freight  passed  through  the  lock  in  round 
numbers  amounting  to  a  million  and  three-quarters 
tons.  In  1892  it  had  increased  to  eleven  and  a 
quarter  million  tons.  In  1894  it  had  further  in- 
creased to  thirteen  million  and  two  hundred  thou- 


140  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

sand  tons.  Great  experts  have  estimated  that  this  ton- 
nage, if  charged  for,  would  have  paid  in  the  year  1889 
over  $40,000,000  of  freight.  Of  this  tonnage  eighty- 
five  per  cent,  was  coal  and  iron  ;  and  this  traffic  was 
actually  created  by  cheapness  of  water  transporta- 
tion. The  tonnage  of  this  canal  is  in  volume  of  busi- 
ness over  thirty-three  per  cent  in  voyages  and  ten 
per  cent,  in  freight  larger  than  the  tonnage  of  the 
Suez  Canal ;  and  this  tonnage  is  upon  inland  lakes, 
whose  shores  are  girdled  with  competitive  railway 
tracks. 

When  De  Lesseps  proposed  the  cutting  of  the  Suez 
canal  there  were  men  who  said  that  the  world's  com- 
merce would  not  bear  it ;  that  from  a  commercial 
standpoint  it  would  not  pay,  and  that  it  could  not 
be  built.  Let  us  see  how  their  gloomy  forebodings 
jostle  with  the  truth.  In  1870  there  passed  through 
the  Suez  canal  486  ships  with  tonnage  of  436,609, 
and  the  receipts  from  tolls  amounted  in  that  year  to 
$867,152.  In  1888  this  had  increased  to  3,440  ships, 
with  a  tonnage  of  6,640,834,  and  the  receipts  had  in- 
creased in  round  numbers  to  $13,000,000.  In  1894 
the  tonnage  had  increased  to  8,039,105,  and  in  the 
same  year  the  rate  was  reduced  to  one  dollar  and 
ninety  cents  per  ton.  The  Suez  Canal  cost  £20,000,- 
000  ;  the  operating  expenses  last  year  amounted  to 
$1,000,000.  The  magnitude  of  the  operations  of  the 
Suez  cannot  be  compared  with  that  on  the  canal  of 
the  New  World,  and  the  saving  of  distances  will  be 
infinitely  greater  by  the  Nicaragua  than  by  the  Suez 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  141 

canal.  Between  London  and  Canton  the  Suez  saves 
3,300  miles,  while  the  Nicaragua  canal  saves  from 
5,000  to  8,000  miles  0n  nearly  all  of  the  voyages. 
Between  London  and  San  Francisco  it  saves  7,200 
miles  out  of  a  voyage  of  14,700  miles.  Between  New 
York  and  San  Francisco  it  saves  10,080  miles  out  of 
a  voyage  of  14,840  miles.  Between  New  York  and 
Canton  6,500  miles  shorter  than  Suez  and  over  5,000 
miles  shorter  than  around  the  Horn. 

In  almost  every  case  the  saving  of  time  and  dis- 
tance by  the  Nicaragua  canal  will  be  largely  over 
that  saved  by  the  Suez.  In  the  circumnavigation  of 
the  earth  by  the  Suez  the  distance  was  reduced  two 
thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-three  miles,  whilst 
by  the  Nicaragua  canal  the  reduction  will  be  six 
thousand  and  fifty-four  miles.  These  comparative 
figures  show  that  from  every  consideration  of  time 
and  expense  of  voyage  the  great  advantage  will  be 
with  the  American  canal.  The  most  moderate  esti- 
mates show  traffic  at  from  six  to  seven  million  tons 
for  the  first  year,  which  at  $2.50  per  ton  would  bring 
fifteen  million  dollars  of  revenue  per  year.  Taking 
off  a  million  and  a  half  dollars  for  operating  ex- 
penses, which  is  a  large  estimate,  we  would  have  six 
per  cent,  on  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  million 
dollars. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  normal  amount  of  freight 
by  the  year  1900,  before  which  time  the  canal  cannot 
be_  completed,  will  be  about  twelve  million  tons  per 
year,  which  at  one  dollar  per  ton  toll  will  leave,  after 


142  TJie  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

operating  expenses,  about  eleven  million  dollars  clear 
income. 

For  the  completion  of  the  canal  the  estimate  of  the 
Maritime  Construction  Company  was  sixty-five  mil- 
lion eighty-four  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  dollars;  this  was  increased  by  the  estimate  of  the 
board  of  engineers,  to  which  the  question  was  sub- 
mitted, to  eighty-seven  million  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy  dol- 
lars. A  fair  estimate  is  generally  conceded  to  be  one 
hundred  million.  From  the  report  which  was  made 
in  1879  to  the  International  Canal  Congress  at  Paris 
it  was  estimated  that  the  tonnage  existing  in  1898 
would  furnish  five  million  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  of  tonnage  for  the  canal.  This  was  a  mod^ 
erate  estimate,  but  accepting  it  as  reasonable  and 
looking  into  the  countries  absolutely  tributary,  as 
well  as  those  countries  largely  tributary,  it  will  be 
seen  that  traffic  of  from  ten  to  twelve  million  tons 
per  year  is  but  a  natural  and  early  consequence  of  the 
opening  of  this  great  work.  Consider  but  a  moment 
the  mighty  forces  at  work.  The  world  has  never  seen 
any  progress  such  as  this  Republic  shows.  Within 
fifteen  years,  at  the  outside,  we  will  have  one  hun- 
dred million  of  people,  and  within  sixty  years  from 
now  we  will  have  two  hundred  million.  The  move-* 
ment  of  freight  on  the  lakes  amounted  in  1890  to 
53,424,432  tons.  Think  of  this  ;  and  men  to-day  are 
hunting  wild  deer  on  the  borders  of  the  lakes.  By 
no  rule  can  you  estimate  the  advance  and  increase 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  143 

of  a  free  people.  The  convention  reasoned  from  the 
former  increase  of  commerce  that  the  estimate  of  five 
million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  would  raise 
to  seven  million  two  and  fifty  thousand  in  ten  years. 
This  reasoning  was  predicated  upon  the  advance  of 
the  world's  commerce  previous  to  that  date.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  increase  of  commerce  within  the 
estimated  time  raised  far  above  this  estimate,  and  for 
the  whole  world  instead  of  an  expected  moderate  in- 
crease it  amounted  to  the  marvelous  increase  of 
eighty-eight  per  cent. 

Let  us  take  the  traffic  of  the  world,  which  is  abso- 
lutely tributary  to  the  American  canal.  It  is  about 
as  follows  : 

The  trade  of  Great  Britain  with  Ecuador,  which 
last  year  amounted  $4,484,013;  with  Peru,  which  last 
year  amounted  to  $6,573,838.00  ;  with  Chili  and  Bo- 
livia, which  last  year  amounted  to  $38,437,629.00  ; 
a  total  of  $49,495,480.00. 

The  trade  of  Belgium  with  Peru,  which  last  year 
amounted  to  $6,777,870. 

The  trade  of  our  Atlantic  ports  with  Hong  Kong, 
which  last  year  amounted  to  $1,344,474;  with  China, 
which  last  year  amounted  to  $14,778,505;  with  Japan, 
which  last  year  amounted  to  $11,933,693;  with  Brit- 
ish Australasia,  which  last  year  amounted  to  $11,- 
481,910;  with  the  Phillipine  Islands,  which  last  year 
amounted  to  $3,919,543;  with  Hawaii  Islands,  which 
last  year  amounted  to  $613,034;  with  Chili,  which 
last  year  amounted  to  $6,778,562;  with  Ecuador, 


144  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

which  last  year  amounted  to  $1,325,417;  with  Peru, 
which  last  year  amounted  to  $9,635,629 — a  total  of 
$53,138,767. 

The  trade  of  all  the  Pacific  ports  of  the  United 
States  with  Belgium,  $757,684;  with  France,  $766,- 
492;  with  Germany,  $883,566;  with  Great  Britain, 
$21,702,521;  with  Cuba,  $216,112— a  total  of  $24,- 
323,375. 

This  above  enumerated  trade  is  entirely  and  abso- 
lutely tributary  to  the  canal.  This  aggregate  trade 
last  year  amounted  to  the  vast  sum  of  $133,738,492. 
To  this  vast  commerce  there  was  not  added  the  com- 
merce of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  with  each 
other.  This  last  commerce  can  scarcely  be  estimated. 
The  movement  of  freight  by  water  on  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  coasts  almost  surpasses  belief.  It 
amounted  in  1890  to  80,817,251  tons.  Every  inter- 
est of  the  East  and  West  will  be  more  closely  linked 
by  this  work  to  the  interests  of  trade  that  demand 
an  increased  reciprocity  between  these  two  great 
sections  of  our  republic.  To-day  we  must  under- 
stand that  the  rate  for  transportation  between  New 
York  and  San  Francisco  by  rail  is  twenty  dollars  per 
ton,  and  by  sailing  vessel  ten  dollars,  and  that  by 
sail  around  the  Horn  the  voyage  is  120  days.  This 
rate  is  to-day  prohibitory  on  many  articles  of  com- 
merce, which,  if  the  rate  were  reduced,  would  fur- 
nish thousands  of  tons  of  commerce.  See  the  effect 
of  the  shortening  of  voyage  upon  our  great  com- 
merce to  Hong  Kong  and  China.  This  trade  last 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  145 

year  with  the  United  States  amounted  $16,122,979. 
This  voyage  is  about  170  days  by  sailing  vessel;  by 
canal  route  it  would  only  be  100  days  by  sail  and 
forty  days  by  steam.  The  far-reaching  fact  upon 
trade  can  scarcely  be  estimated.  Experts  of  ship- 
ping matters  all  contend  that  a  large  per  cent,  of 
return  commerce  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
Eastern  colonies  would  pass  through  the  Nicaragua 
canal.  This  route,  with  more  favoring  winds,  more 
temperate  climate,  more  favorable  currents,  and  on 
the  other  matters  of  economy  and  of  time  and  ex- 
pense, will  demand  that  a  vast  deal  of  this  traffic  on 
its  return  from  the  East  Indies  will  pass  over  this 
canal.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  a  large  amount 
of  the  English  traffic,  which  comes  by  return  from 
the  East  Indies,  which  is  taken  to  London  and  re- 
shipped  to  the  United  States.  This  no  longer  need 
be  done,  and  merchandise,  such  as  plumbago  from 
Ceylon  and  braid  from  China,  will  be  taken  to  New 
York  on  return  trip,  unloaded  there,  and  the  ship 
will  load  again  in  New  York  with  American  pro- 
ducts for  its  trip  across  the  Atlantic.  The  trade 
above  spoken  of  is  a  trade  which  is  absolutely  and 
entirely  tributary  to  the  canal.  There  is  a  large 
amount  of  trade  which  is  largely  tributary — that  is, 
the  trade  of  Great  Britain — with  Hong  Kong,  $12,- 
715,788;  New  South  Wales,  $78,971,757;  Queens- 
land, $22,316,935;  South  Australia,  $22,334,325; 
Victoria,  $53,102,442;  Western  Australia,  $4,746,- 

921;  New  Zealand,  $58,764,414;  Tasmania,  $15,791,- 
10 


146  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

072;  Java,  $11,342,600;  Phillipine  and  Ladrone 
islands,  $2,471,755;  China,  $39,619,894,  and  Japan, 
$23,703,673. 

This  trade  amounted  last  year  to  $347,851,576. 
The  trade  of  France  with  Japan,  $11,723,000; 
and  Chili,  $11,704,000;  which  together  last  year, 
amounted  to  $23,427,000.  The  trade  of  Germany 
with  Australia,  $5,622;480,  with  Japan,  $3,605,280, 
and  Chili,  $26,439,120,  which  together  last  year, 
amounted  to  $35,666,880.  The  trade  of  our  Atlantic 
ports  with  the  British  East  Indies,  $22,512,327,  the 
French  East  Indies,  $69,136,  the  Dutch  East  Indies, 
$8,757,897,  and  Central  America,  $11,989,215;  which 
together  last  year  amounted  in  all  to  $43,328,575. 
This  amounts  in  the  aggregate  to  $450,324,031,  and 
is  largely  tributary  to  this  canal 

The  total  imports  into  Great  Britain  from  her  East 
Indian  Colonies  amounted  to  $200,000,000,  and  of  this 
trade,  as  I  have  said  before,  a  large  amount  will  seek 
its  way  through  the  canal.  A  large  amount  of  the 
traffic  of  England  between  Chili,  Peru  and  Bolivia 
will  take  its  course  through  the  canal  from  the  fact 
that  between  Bolivia  and  Liverpool  the  canal  will 
shorten  the  journey  4,090  miles,  and  between  Valpa- 
raiso and  Liverpool,  2,144  miles.  From  all  of  the 
northern  part  of  Peru  unquestionably  traffic  will  be 
through  this  canal.  Every  climatic  and  natural  rea- 
son will  be  in  the  favor  of  a  great  increase  even  from 
this  estimate.  It  must  be  understood  that  no  sailing 
vessels  make  their  journey  through  the  Suez  canal, 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  147 

and  that  the  journey,  even  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
is  fraught  with  great  difficulties  by  reason  of  the  al- 
most certain  head  winds  outside  of  Gibraltar;  whereas 
with  the  Nicaraguan  canal  the  trade  winds  blow  and 
the  currents  are  propitious  for  sail  vessels.  The  in- 
crease on  the  above  estimate  of  tonnage  will  be  appre- 
ciated when  we  consider  that  in  eighteen  years  the 
tonnage  of  the  world  has  increased  from  23,000,000,- 
000  to  63,000,000,000  of  tons,  and  that  the  commerce 
of  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany  and  the  United 
States  increased  from  1879  from  8,014,880,620  tons 
to  8,890,200,783  tons  in  1888,  an  increase  of  875,530,- 
160  tons,  a  growth  so  great  that  we  can  scarcely  grasp 
its  magnitude.  The  advantage  which  the  canal  will 
give  the  United  States,  with  our  commercial  energy, 
will  be  an  advantage  such  only  as  this  one  great 
artery  of  commerce  can  furnish.  It  will  develop  new 
methods,  new  territories,  new  industries  and  new 
modes  of  transportation.  The  rapid  peopling  of  our 
country  demands  that  our  productive  energies  shall 
no  longer  be  given  'to  the  development  of  internal 
commerce,  but  that  our  attention  shall  be  directed  to 
the  world.  Our  only  great  competitor  in  many  sec- 
tions of  the  world  in  which  she  is  supreme,  will  no 
longer  have  the  advantage  which  she  has  had  in  the 
past.  We  will  be  7,000  miles  nearer  western  South 
America  than  we  are  to-day,  and  have  the  advantage, 
over  her  of  that  distance  in  the  markets  of  that  great 
section. 

At  the  inception  of  the  Suez  canal  England  was 


148  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

opposed  to  its  construction  because  she  was  the  great- 
est sea  power  and  in  any  naval  or  commercial  con- 
flict concerning  her  Eastern  possessions  she  could, 
by  reason  of  her  naval  superiority,  easily  distance 
her  rivals.  With  her  wise  foresight  she  had  con- 
trived to  mark  out  her  way  to  the  East,  and  had 
placed  her  great  South  African  Colonies  on  the  road 
to  India.  With  the  Suez  canal  completed  the  route 
to  the  East  being  so  much  shorter  and  the  Con- 
tinental powers  possessing  equal  privileges  through 
a  neutral  canal,  England  would  have  no  advantage 
arising  from  her  naval  superiority.  When,  in  spite 
of  her  opposition,  the  canal  was  built,  she  pur- 
chased the  stock  control  of  it,  seized  Egypt  and 
more  carefully  fortified  her  Mediterranean  islands. 
From  a  commercial  standpoint,  the  stock  for  which 
she  gave  $20,000,000,  could  be  sold  to-day  for  a  $100,- 
000,000,  and  from  a  military  standpoint  she  possesses 
the  key  to  India  and  the  East. 

More  than  this,  the  Suez  canal  has  added  immea- 
sureably  to  England's  commerce.  Her  tonnage  to 
the  Orient  has  increased  far  beyond  her  tonnage  to 
any  other  portion  the  world.  This  has  resulted  from 
the  great  advantage  which  the  Suez  canal  has  given 
her.  She  has  three-fourths  of  the  tonnage  passing 
through  the  canal.  In  1883  Great  Britain  had  a 
gross  tonnage  of  7,977,728  tons,  as  against  798,929 
of  German  tonnage  and  702,634  of  French.  Her 
trade  with  the  East  has  increased  from  537,000,000 
in  1870  to  752,000,000  in  1888.  This  all  results  from 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  1 49 

the  Suez  canal.  You  must  remember  that  the  Nica- 
raguan canal  is  right  in  the  midst  of  the  world's  com- 
merce, whilst  the  Suez  is  only  a  mere  passage-way. 
The  tonnage  of  America  will  be  largely  increased  by 
the  Nicaraguan  canal.  The  need  of  this  canal  to  our 
commerce  is  plainly  shown  by  our  tonnage.  By  the 
map  you  will  see  how  the  Suez  canal  hurt  us.  It 
gave  England  from  three  to  five  thousand  miles  the 
advantage  of  us.  In  the  foreign  trade  in  1893  our 
aggregate  burthen  was  883,199  tons,  an  actual  de- 
crease of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  tons  from 
1892.  Of  the  total  foreign  trade  for  1894  8.7  per 
cent,  was  carried  in  vessels  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  whilst  of  the  total  tonnage  of  the  world  Great 
Britain,  by  reason  of  her  commercial  foresight  and 
her  advantages  resulting  from  the  control  of  the  trade 
avenues,  had  13,192,566,  as  against  2,068,859  of  the 
United  States.  This  should  no  longer  be  tolerated 
by  this  great  and  enterprising  people,  and  every 
agency  should  be  grasped  to  increase  our  commerce 
to  the  volume  which  our  power  as  a  commercial  peo- 
ple deserves. 

The  saving  to  the  commerce  of  our  country  in  dis- 
tance and  money  is  well  exemplified  by  the  follow- 
ing table: 

From  New  York  to  San  Francisco  it  is  14,840 
miles  by  Cape  Horn.  By  the  Nicaraguan  canal  it  is 
4,946  miles,  a  saving  of  9,894  miles.  From  New 
York  to  Melbourne  by  Cape  Horn  it  is  13,502  miles. 
By  the  canal  it  is  10,000  miles,  a  saving  of  3,290 


150  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

miles.  From  New  York  to  Hong  Kong  it  is  18,180 
miles  around  the  Horn ;  by  the  Nicaraguan  canal  it 
is  11,038  miles,  or  a  saving  of  4,163  miles.  From 
New  York  to  Guayaquil  it  is  11,471  miles  around 
the  Horn;  through  the  Nicaraguan  canal  it  is  3,053 
miles.  The  distance  saved  is  8,418  miles.  From 
New  York  to  Acapulco  it  is  13,283  miles  around  the 
Horn;  by  the  canal  it  is  2,709  miles,  a  saving  of 
10,874  miles  on  the  voyage. 

The  value  of  this  canal  to  the  commerce  of  the 
United  States  is  illustrated  by  the  report  of  Mr.  T. 
B.  Adkins,  a  great  master  of  the  subject  of  trade,  to 
the  Senate  committee,  where  it  is  shown  that  a  1,650 
ton  barque  will  cost  in  transportation  charges  $75  a 
day,  not  including  port  charges.  And  that  on  the 
voyage  from  Port  Townsend  to  Boston  there  will  be 
a  saving  by  the  canal  of  about  10,600  miles,  which 
would  amount  in  actual  saving  of  expense  to  $6,225 
in  the  mere  running  of  the  vessel.  This  is  a  fair 
illustration.  Transportation  is  the  great  question  of 
the  world  to-day,  and  in  the  commercial  world  the 
demand  for  cheap  and  certain  transportation  is  as 
urgent  and  vital  as  is  the  demand  for  a  cheap  first 
cost  of  the  articles  of  commerce.  This  canal  fully 
answers  this  request  of  commerce.  Particularly 
speaking,  how  will  the  canal  affect  our  country  ? 
What  section  will  most  potently  feel  its  effect  ? 

An  authority  has  said  that  the  chief  advantages 
resulting  from  its  construction  will  be  reaped  by  the 
Pacific  coast.  It  is  true  that  the  benefit  to  this  won- 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  151 

derful  section  of  our  Republic  will  be  immense,  but 
these  advantages  will,  in  my  opinion,  scarcely  be  as 
great  as  those  which  will  accrue  to  the  Mississippi 
valley.  Let  us  examine  the  three  great  sections 
which  will  be  peculiarly  benefited  by  this  work,  and 
discuss  somewhat  in  detail  the  peculiar  advantages 
which  will  accrue  to  each  section.  In  the  Mississippi 
valley  nature  has  indeed  been  prodigal  of  her  boun- 
ties. Here  is  every  climate,  every  product  of  the  tem- 
porate  regions,  and,  in  addition,  here  are  the  utmost 
facilities  for  manufacture.  Within  this  great  valley 
nature  has  located  all  the  great  minerals  excepting 
gold  and  silver.  She  has  made  wheat  and  corn  and 
rye  and  rice  grow  in  the  same  valley  with  the  cotton 
and  the  hemp.  Here  are  the  greatest  forests,  the 
greatest  mountains  of  iron,  the  richest  copper  mines, 
sufficient  marble  to  supply  the  palaces  of  the  earth, 
and  lead  enough  to  furnish  the  armies  of  Europe  for 
500  years. 

A  great  writer  has  said  that  coal  and  iron  are  the 
kings  of  the  earth,  because  they  make  and  unmake  the 
kings  of  the  earth.  England's  greatness  is  founded 
largely  upon  her  coal,  but  virtually  within  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mississippi,  within  the  great  Appalachian 
chain,  there  is  nine  times  the  coal  that  is  within  the 
bosom  of  Great  Britain.  The  world  is  more  depend- 
ent upon  coal  and  iron  and  cotton  than  upon  any  other 
articles  of  commerce.  That  which  increases  the  pro- 
duction and  widens  the  distribution  of  these  great 
articles  of  commerce  will  exert  the  greatest  influence 


152  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

upon  the  affairs  of  the  world.  We  will  consider  the 
two  great  staples  of  coal  and  cotton  in  this  valley, 
and  briefly  discuss  the  influence  which  the  building 
of  the  canal  will  have  upon  them.  Great  Britain 
to-day  exports  20,000,000  tons  of  coal  and  2,500,000, 
tons  go  to  South  American  markets.  These  markets 
she  now  controls.  The  opening  of  the  canal  will 
almost  revolutionize  the  trade  in  coal,  and  will  largely 
revolutionize  the  trade  in  cotton,  and  from  this  will 
largely  follow  the  revolution  of  all  trade.  The  ques- 
tion of  fuel  is  most  important,  and  the  discussion  of 
the  effect  of  the  canal  upon  the  coal  trade  is  directly 
in  point. 

The  coals  which  supply  the  Pacific  coast  come 
almost  exclusively  from  British  possessions.  The 
best  of  the  Pacific  coast  coals  come  from  Vancouver, 
and  they  are  the  only  known  coals  on  the  Western 
coast  which  are  good  for  steam  purposes.  The  coals 
of  the  State  of  Washington,  and,  generally  speaking, 
the  coals  of  the  Pacific  coast  belong  to  the  recent  or 
mezozoic  formations,  and  are  destructive  to  fire-boxes 
and  are  not  suitable  for  steam  purposes.  They  are 
higher  in  sulphur  and  ash  than  those  of  the  true  coal 
era.  We  find  good  coals  in  Colorado,  but  they  cannot  be 
mined  cheaply,  and  the  transportation  is  too  expen- 
sive for  their  use  upon  the  seacoast.  This  proposi- 
tion applies  largely  to  the  western  coals,  and,  con- 
sequently, the  Vancouver,  Australian,  and  Welsh 
coals  control  the  market.  The  coals  of  Texas  and 
New  Mexico  are  largely  unknown,  and  it  is  not 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  153 

probable  that  they  will  ever  compete  upon  the  coast. 
Therefore,  the  only  practical  competitor  of  the  En- 
glish coals  are  the  coals  from  the  Appalachian  coal- 
field, and  the  only  channel  through  which  these 
coals  can  compete  with  the  British  coals  is  through 
the  Inter-oceanic  canal.  The  Appalachian  coal-field 
of  the  United  States  embraces  nearly  100,000  square 
miles,  and  represents  the  true  geological  period,  and 
these  coals  are  purer  and  better  than  the  English 
coals  and  far  better  than  the  coals  of  the  West,  which 
last  are  the  mezozoic  or  latter  coals.  The  carbonif- 
erous formation  in  this  field  (the  Appalachian)  is 
an  aggregate  deposit  of  more  than  9,000  feet,  of 
which  there  are  more  than  100  separate,  distinct 
coal  veins.  These  coals  lie  principally  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley,  counting  western  Pennsylvania  in 
that  territory.  The  annual  increase  in  the  consump- 
tion since  1880  has  been  about  seven  per  cent.,  and 
the  total  production  for  1894,  of  England  and  the 
United  States,  was  about  343,000,000  tons.  This  in- 
crease will  largely  come  from  the  Appalachian  coal- 
field, and  with  transportation  facilities  no  other 
country  can  compete  therewith.  In  this  field  they 
are  to-day  mining  the  cheapest  coals  in  the  world. 
In  the  State  of  West  Virginia,  which  is  a  fair  centre 
of  this  great  field,  coal  is  being  mined  more  cheaply 
than  in  Japan.  The  Japanese  pay  six  cents  a  day 
for  labor,  yet  her  coal  costs  $1.516  F.  0.  B.  at  the 
mines.  The  New  South  Wales  coals  and  the  English 
coals  are  always  worth  $2.25  and  $1.75,  respectively, 


154  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

per  ton  at  pit  mouth,  while  in  the  State  of  West  Vir- 
ginia coal  is  being  mined  and  loaded  at  sixty  cents 
per  ton  on  cars  at  mine  and  $1.80  F.  0.  B.  at  Atlan- 
tic tidewater.  In  other  words,  the  Appalachian  coal 
field  in  the  Mississippi  valley  can  mine  and  trans- 
port coal  400  miles  by  rail  at  much  less  than  the  cost 
of  the  English  coal  at  the  pit  mouth.  Let  us  take 
Pittsburgh  and  West  Virginia  as  a  fair  test  of  what 
benefits  this  canal  will  bring  to  this  great  article  of 
commerce  in  this  valley.  The  distance  from  the 
Ohio  river  to  New  Orleans  is  2,000  miles.  The  cost 
of  transportation  to  New  Orleans  is  eighty  cents  from 
Pittsburgh  and  sixty-five  cents  per  ton  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Kanawha  river,  in  West  Virginia.  This  is 
cheap  transportation.  The  price  of  coal  of  New  South 
Wales,  at  New  Castle,  is,  as  I  have  said  before,  $2.25 
at  the  pit  mouth.  Now  transportation  by  sea  will 
not  be  as  expensive  as  by  river.  Transportation  by 
railroad  is  about  one-half  per  cent,  per  ton,  by  steam 
vessels  one-fifth  and  by  sailing  vessels  one-tenth. 
Let  us  quote  the  price  of  coal  of  the  markets  which 
we  will  dominate  when  we  turn  our  eyes  southward 
and  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  cost  of  transportation 
for  15,000  miles  from  New  Orleans  to  San  Francisco 
is  too  great  for  present  successful  competition.  By 
the  Nicaragua  canal  the  distance  is  reduced  by  11,000 
miles  to  a  total  of  4,000  miles.  We  will  have  the 
advantage  of  the  Welsh  coals  by  nearly  3,000  miles. 
We  can  put  the  Appalachian  coals  into  the  San  Fran- 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  155 

cisco  market  at  less  than  market  price  for  the  Colo- 
rado coals. 

In  San  Francisco  the  coals  at  wholesale  are  about 
as  follows: 

Seattle  coal,  .  .  $6  00 

Cardiff  coal,  .  .  7  25 

Australian  coal,     .  .  6  25 

Cumberland  coal,  .  .  13  00 

Lehigh  coal,  .  .  17  00 

As  a  fair  average,  West  Virginia  coal  in  the  Appala- 
chian coal-field  can  be  laid  down  in  the  harbor  of  San 
Francisco  at  the  rate  of  from  $5.50  to  $5.75  per  ton. 
Jn  addition  to  this  there  is  no  comparison  between 
the  Seattle  coal  and  the  Appalachian  coal.  The  last 
has  the  advantage  in  quality  of  from  $1.50  to  $2.25 
per  ton. 

To  Mananham,  Brazil,  the  distance  from  New  Or- 
leans is  about  3,800  miles;  from  Newport  News,  3,108 
miles.  I  use  Newport  News  as  illustrative  of  the 
Middle  Atlantic  ports,  such  as  Norfolk  and  Balti- 
more. At  this  point  they  use  Cardiff  coal  at  $12  per 
ton.  West  Virginia  coal  can  be  laid  down  at  that 
harbor  at  less  than  $5  per  ton.  At  Pernambuco  Bri- 
tish and  German  coal  is  used.  This  costs  $11  to  $15 
per  ton.  From  New  Orleans  to  Pernambuco  it  is 
4,580  miles  ;  from  Newport  News  it  is  3,888.  We  can 
sell  them  West  Virginia  coal  at  that  point  at  $5.50 
per  ton.  At  Montevideo,  Uruguay,  they  use  British 
coal,  which  costs  $13  per  ton.  West  Virginia  coal 
can  be  put  in  that  market  at  $8  per  ton.  At  Buenos 


156  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

Ayres  they  use  Cardiff  coal,  which  costs  $14.  Buenos 
Ayres  is  7,274  miles  from  New  Orleans  and  6,582  miles 
Newport  News.  West  Virginia  coal  can  be  placed  in 
this  market  for  $6  per  ton.  At  Acapulco,  Mexico, 
Cardiff  and  Australian  coals  are  used,  which  cost 
$20  per  ton.  This  port  is  only  2,285  miles  from  New 
Orleans  and  2,756  miles  from  Newport  News.  The 
Appalachian  coal  can  be  placed  in  that  port  for  less 
than  $5  per  ton.  At  Callao,  Peru,  Cardiff  coal  is  used, 
which  costs  $15  per  ton.  Callao  is  2,984  miles  from 
New  Orleans  and  3,455  miles  from  Newport  News. 
West  Virginia  coal  can  be  placed  at  that  market  at 
$5  to  $6  per  ton.  Valparaiso,  Chili,  uses  Australian 
coal  and  Cardiff  coal.  These  coals  cost  in  that  port 
$8  per  ton.  This  port  is  only  4,254  miles  from  New 
Orleans  and  about  4,725  miles  from  Newport  News, 
and  is  almost  in  a  straight  line  from  New  Orleans 
through  the  canal.  West  Virginia  coal  can  be  placed 
in  that  market  at  $5.60  to  $6  per  ton. 

A  fair  illustration  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by 
the  Appalachian  coal  in  the  South  American  and 
West  Indian  markets  was  shown  in  March  last,  when 
the  Navy  Department  saved  $50,000  by  shipping 
West  Virginia  coal  from  the  Davis  and  Elkins  mines 
to  our  war-ships  at  Trinidad.  Coal  averages  there 
$7.30  per  ton,  but  we  were  able  to  place  the  coal  on  the 
war-ships  at  $3.85  per  ton.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
isthmus  last  year  our  war-ships  were  charged  $11  a 
ton  for  coal,  and  this  year  $10.75.  Coal  could  be  de- 
livered through  the  canal  for  less  than  $5  a  ton. 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  157 

I  have  taken  both  coasts  for  the  reason  that  as  yet 
little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  Western  coast, 
because  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  trade  of 
South  America,  and  as  soon  as  attention  is  directed 
to  this  trade  by  reason  of  the  building  of  the  canal, 
both  coasts  will  be  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Ame- 
rican enterprise  and  industry  in  this  great  traffic. 
The  fact  that  the  Appalachian  chain  contains  the 
greatest  number  of  measures  of  the  best  and  cheap- 
est coal  is  beyond  discussion.  And  instead  of  States 
like  West  Virginia,  which  has  within  its  boundaries 
17,000  square  miles  of  coal  lying  right  on  the  Ohio 
river,  easily  accessible  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  mining 
ten  million  of  tons  a  year,  when  this  great  South 
American  and  Pacific  trade  is  opened  up,  the  increase 
will  be  incalculable.  This  will  apply  to  the  whole  of 
the  Appalachian  coal  field.  With  the  canal  opened 
the  coal  trade  of  the  world  will  be  virtually  revolu- 
tionized. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  article  of  cotton,  the  other 
great  staple  of  commerce  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 
From  1884,  the  growth  of  cotton  has  increased  from 
about  six  million  to  upwards  of  nine  million  bales  in 
1892.  In  eighteen  years  cotton  has  brought  into  the 
South  over  five  billion  two  hundred  million  dollars, 
and  since  1885  our  exports  of  this  staple  have  been 
three  billion  eight  hundred  million  dollars.  How- 
ever wonderful  these  figures  may  seem  in  the  way  of 
production,  and  however  great  has  been  its  influence 
on  mankind  at  large,  all  this  cotton  could  have  been 


158  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

raised  in  the  State  of  Texas,  and  instead  of  supply- 
ing comparatively  a  limited  market,  the  whole  world, 
if^transportation  facilities  .were  at  hand,  could  have 
been  supplied  with  the  manufactured  article  from 
the  United  States.  Our  cotton  is  largely  manufac- 
tured by  England,  and  out  of  ninety-two  million  spin- 
dles, England  has  forty-five  million  and  our  country 
only  fifteen  million  ;  and  by  reason  of  England's  fa- 
cilities for  transportation  this  is  shipped  all  over  the 
world  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  receives  nothing 
but  the  mere  price  of  the  raw  article.  The  14,000,- 
000  acres  of  cotton  land  should  have  its  product 
sent  directly  to  its  destination,  and  should  as  surely 
receive  in  return  the  wools,  dyes,  coffee,  and  the  va- 
ried products  of  the  South  and  the  East.  With  the 
Nicaraguan  canal  opened,  Japan  would  be  furnished 
with  all  her  cotton.  This  cotton  should  go  directly 
from  us.  Japan  is  now  beginning  to  be  one  of  the 
great  cotton  manufacturing  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
in  every  line  of  manufacturing  she  will  soon  domi- 
nate the  East.  Look  at  her  momentus  progress  in 
this  one  manufacture.  She  bought  less  than  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  cotton  in  1888;  in  1891 
she  bought  seven  million  pounds  of  cotton.  At  this 
rate  it  will  require  but  a  short  time  before  she  will 
require  one-third  of  the  whole  cotton  crop.  She  has 
more  than  a  million  spindles,  and  she  has  forty  mil- 
lions of  people  who  wear  cotton  clothing.  The  ships 
passing  through  from  New  Orleans  and  across  the 
Pacific  Ocean  will  have  a  great  advantage  over  those 


BAILKOAD  THROUGH  SWAMP  BACK  OF  GKEYTOWN. 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  159 

passing  through  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  Suez 
canal  on  their  way  to  Japan.  The  cotton  which  is 
used  in  Japan  is  principally  the  long  staple  cotton, 
and  our  cotton  is  the  cotton  which  is  demanded  by 
this  trade. 

From  the  South  direct  should  go  all  the  cotton  to 
Japan  and  China,  and  the  nations  of  the  East.  By 
the  opening  of  the  canal  this  great  valley  will  be 
brought  1,900  miles  nearer  Japan,  and  2,000  miles 
nearer  the  northern  coast  of  China  than  any  of  the 
English  markets  will  be.  We  will  be  1,000  miles 
nearer  Australia  than  England.  With  all  of  this 
great  power  of  production  and  manufacture,  by  rea- 
son of  the  little  interest  which  we  have  taken  in  the 
Eastern  and  Southern  trade,  our  commerce  in  cot- 
ton has  been  infinitesimal  as  compared  with  Eng- 
land. 

In  1890  China  imported  61,000,000  of  cotton  goods, 
and  only  5,000,000  from  us.  In  1894  we  only  sold 
China  $2,844,220  in  cotton  goods;  the  rest  came  from 
England,  and  this  cotton  was  raised  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  With  her  new  awakening,  this  is 
rapidly  changing.  China's  rate  of  progress  is  only 
second  to  that  of  Japan,  and  within  ten  years  she 
will  require  one-half  of  our  cotton  crop.  This  will 
revolutionize  the  trade  of  the  world  in  cotton.  The 
opening  of  the  canal  will  make  us  1,000  miles  nearer 
Northern  China  than  is  Liverpool  to-day.  That  means 
the  ability  to  undersell.  The  canal  will  bring  us  in 
closer  touch  with  500,000,000  of  people,  who,  if  they 


1GO  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

only  use  half  a  pound  of  cotton  each,  will  use  250,- 
000,000  pounds. 

This  is  not  an  idle  dream ;  there  is  no  conquerer 
so  swift  as  cotton.  Our  country  must  turn  its  eyes 
to  the  trade  of  the  East  and  South.  With  the  canal 
in  operation  every  pound  of  manufactured  cotton, 
and  every  yard  of  cotton  fabric  can  be  sold  by  us  to 
Western  South  America.  With  the  canal  in  opera- 
tion there  will  be  no  longer  witnessed  the  spectacle  of 
this  great  republic  having  not  quite  $200,000,000  of 
interest  in  the  imports  and  $60,000,000  in  the  foreign 
exports  of  our  Southern  neighbors,  which  together 
aggregated  last  year  $1,000,000,000.  We  only  sold 
last  year  to  the  great  republic  of  Bolivia,  $1,233  in 
manufactured  cotton.  We  only  exported  last  year 
to  the  republic  of  Brazil  $1,538,680  of  cotton  and  the 
manufactures  of  cotton.  We  sold  to  Chili  only  $462,- 
756  in  cotton;  to  Columbia,  $200,000;  Ecuador,  $51,- 
992;  Peru,  $49,999;  Venezuela,  $543,938  in  cotton. 
We  should  control  these  cotton  markets;  we  are 
right  near  them.  We  must  manufacture  the  cotton 
in  sight  of  the  fields  in  which  it  is  grown.  I  have 
spoken  indifferently  of  the  western  and  the  eastern 
coasts  of  South  America,  because  the  canal  will  affect 
both  coasts  by  reason  of  American  manufacturers 
turning  their  general  attention  to  this  great  and 
general  market.  The  states  embraced  in  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi  valleys  are  the  states  which  have 
within  their  bounds  one-half  of  the  population  of 
this  great  nation;  they  are  states  which  raise  sixty 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  161 

per  cent,  of  farm  products,  and  own  fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  farming  land,  and  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  live 
stock  of  the  nation,  and  one-half  of  the  farming  im- 
plements. 

The  ability  of  this  great  section  to  cheaply  manu- 
facture, and  to  largely  dominate  the  trade  of  the  East 
is  shown  by  the  statistics  of  the  manufactures  of  the 
Ohio  valley.  In  1880  the  number  of  manufacturing 
industries  was  89,707,  whilst  in  1890  it  had  increased 
to  115,680.  The  value  of  manufactured  products  in 
1890  amounted  to  $3,346,000,000,  about  forty  per  cent, 
of  the  total  manufactures  of  this  country,  as  against 
$1,791,000,000  in  1880,  thus  showing  the  enormous 
increase  in  ten  years  of  25,973  manufactories,  and 
$1,555,000,000  in  manufactured  products.  All  of 
this  increase  was  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  in  1893 
there  went  eastward  to  European  nations  83^  per 
per  cent,  of  our  exports,  and  southward  to  the  Ame- 
rican nations  nine  per  cent.,  northward  to  British 
America  four  per  cent.,  and  westward  to  Pacific  na- 
tions three  and  one-half.  The  workshop  has  no 
place  in  South  America.  In  the  Mississippi  valley 
it  will  have  its  greatest  development. 

Another  great  benefit  to  the  Mississippi  valley 
which  will  follow  from  the  building  of  this  canal 
will  be  that  the  traffic  of  the  Mississippi  river  will 
be  largely  increased.  On  this  river  and  its  tributa- 
ries in  1890  there  was  a  tonnage  of  29,405,046.  It 
is  almost  too  great  to  rightly  estimate.  The  great 

increase  in  traffic  demanded  by  the  opening  up  of 
11 


162  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

the  nations  of  the  east  and  of  the  western  coast  of 
South  America  will  intensify  the  demands  for  better 
facilities  of  traffic  upon  this  river  and  its  tributaries. 
It  will  demand  the  improvement  of  its  channel,  and 
it  will  demand  the  improvement  of  the  Ohio,  and  in 
addition  to  this  it  will  most  certainly  bring  about 
the  construction  of  the  canal  between  Lake  Erie  and 
the  Ohio  river.  This  is  another  great  dream  of  com- 
merce which  goes  hand  in  hand  with  the  opening  of 
the  Central  American  isthmus. 

The  only  want  of  manufacturers  in  the  great  Ohio 
valley  is  the  cheap  ore  of  the  Lake  Superior  region. 
This  lake  region  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  and  by  the  building  of  this  last  canal  will 
be  largely  tributary  thereto.  Out  of  a  total  of  11,- 
879,679  tons  of  production  of  iron  ore  for  the  United 
States  7,692,548  tons  came  from  the  Lake  Superior 
region.  From  these  cheap  ores,  being  brought  by 
the  cheap  transportation  of  the  Lake  canal  into  the 
Mississippi  valley,  will  arise  thousands  of  manu- 
factories along  these  great  rivers,  which  will  swell 
the  great  volume  of  commerce  passing  through  the 
walls  of  the  great  Inter-oceanic  canal  and  benefiting 
the  nations  of  the  earth. 

The  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Caribbean  Sea  are 
more  eligibly  situated  for  commerce  than  any  sheets 
of  water  upon  the  globe.  The  relation  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea  to  Europe  does  not  in  any  wise  com- 
pare from  a  commercial  standpoint  with  the  relation 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  United  States.  Into 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  163 

this  great  body  of  water  pour  the  greatest  rivers  of 
the  world. 

The  river  basins  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa  are 
but  one-fourth  in  importance  as  compared  with  those 
which  empty  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Medi- 
terranean Sea  is  of  great  length  and  has  an  indented 
coast  line,  whereas  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  compact, 
and  only  requires  a  short  time  to  travel  from  one  of 
its  extremities  to  the  other.  It  requires  a  sailing 
vessel  a  month  to  go  from  the  Black  Sea  into  the 
ocean. 

Then  in  the  scope  and  variety  of  climate  and  ter- 
ritory it  does  not  compare  with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  designed  by  the  hand  of 
nature  to  hold  within  its  bosom  the  great  commerce 
of  the  world.  It  is  within  2,000  miles  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Hudson,  the  Orinoco,  the  Mississippi,  and  the 
Amazon.  The  mouth  of  the  Amazon  and  Orinoco, 
by  reason  of  the  trade-winds  and  the  currents  are  in 
this  ocean,  just  as  the  laws  of  nature  have  placed 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  within  the  same  basin. 
The  currents  of  the  ocean  flow  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
just  as  certainly  as  the  currents  of  the  Mississippi 
and  Ohio  and  Missouri  flow  within  the  same  limits. 
The  river  basins  of  other  countries  do  not  at  all 
compare  with  the  river  basins  which  virtually  flow 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Mississippi  and  Mis- 
souri rivers,  taking  their  head  amidst  the  great  wheat 
fields  of  the  North,  flowing  down  to  the  more  tem- 
perate regions  of  Missouri,  Iowa,  Illinois,  and  In- 


164  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

diana,  where  the  fruits  and  products  of  the  tempe- 
rate regions  are  at  their  best,  continue  on  to  where 
cotton  and  the  fruits  of  the  South  have  their  highest 
development.  In  one  and  the  same  period  of  the 
year  on  this  magnificent  river  one  sees  seed-time  and 
harvest.  So  it  is  with  the  Amazon,  which  flows 
through  the  Andes  to  the  coast,  with  an  extent  of 
products  and  variety  of  climate  which  is  not  equalled 
by  any  other  river  in  the  world,  excepting  the  Missis- 
sippi, having  all  of  the  real  advantages  of  flowing 
north  and  south  as  well  as  east  and  west.  These 
two  rivers,  one  having  all  of  the  temperatures  of  the 
earth,  the  other  having  perpetual  summer  within  its 
limits,  both  flow  into  the  great  American  Sea  and 
carry  their  products  there,  to  be  thence  distributed 
to  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Nature  designed  here  a  reciprocal  commerce.  Each 
needs  that  which  abounds  with  the  other,  and  either 
one  can  supply  every  want  which  the  other  may  feel. 
The  mighty  waters  of  these  two  great  rivers  are 
bound  together  by  the  waves  of  these  two  seas.  These 
are  American  seas,  and  it  is  an  essential  of  com- 
merce that  these  waters  should  be  commercially 
dominated  by  the  American  nation.  Our  cotton 
and  iron  and  steel  and  the  thousand  manufacturers 
of  our  great  valley  are  essential  to  the  South  Ameri- 
can civilization,  and  the  dyes  and  the  rare  woods, 
the  rich  spices,  the  indigo,  quinine,  drugs,  wool, 
hides,  india-rubber,  the  fruit  and  sugar,  and  tobacco, 
coffee,  and  cocoa,  and  the  thousand  other  produc- 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  165 

tions  of  the  rich  alluvial  lands  of  this  great  South 
American  valley  are  imperatively  demanded  by  our 
civilization. 

Every  reason  of  commerce  demands  that  the  pro- 
ducts of  these  great  rivers  shall  be  commingled  in 
these  two  great  seas  and  that  the  isthmus  shall  no 
longer  separate  them  from  the  great  marts  of  the 
world.  This  canal  will  intensify  the  American  feel- 
ing, and  more  than  any  other  work,  strengthen  and 
invigorate  this  great  commerce. 

When  considering  what  the  possibilities  of  this 
grand  valley  would  be,  when  it  is  filled  with  a  happy, 
thrifty  population,  with  railroads  binding  its  utter- 
most boundaries  together,  with  splendid  steamers  on 
the  breast  of  its  broad  waters ;  with  its  fertile  fields 
in  full  bloom  of  intelligent  civilization  ;  with  its 
mines  open  and  its  manufactories  smoking,  Mr. 
Calhoun  well  said  in  his  report — "  Looking  to  a  not 
far  distant  future  when  this  great  valley,  containing 
within  its  limits  1,200,000  square  miles,  lying  in  its 
whole  extent  in  the  temperate  zone  and  occupying  a 
position  midway  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Oceans,  unequalled  in  fertility  and  the  diversity  of 
its  products,  intersected  in  every  direction  by  the 
mighty  streams,  including  its  tributaries  by  which 
it  is  drained  and  which  supply  a  continuous  naviga- 
tion of  upwards  of  10,000  miles,  with  a  coast  includ- 
ing both  banks  of  twice  that  length,  shall  be  crowded 
with  population  and  its  resources  fully  developed, 


166  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

imagination  is  taxed  in  the  attempt  to  realize  the 
magnitude  of  its  commerce." 

Another  great  writer  has  beautifully  said,  "  Nature 
has  created  nothing  upon  our  continent  more  stu- 
pendous than  these  waters,  and  they  are  as  much 
characteristic  of  the  great  American  Republic,  as  the 
institutions,  policy,  the  liberty  which  distinguish  it 
from  all  the  nations  of  the  earth." 

Having  thus  in  a  somewhat  hurried  manner  con- 
sidered the  Mississippi  valley,  let  us  see  how  the 
canal  will  affect  the  Pacific  -coast. 

The  States  of  Washington,  Oregon,  and  California 
in  1880  had  1,114,578  people.  In  1894  they  had 
2,095,598  people.  No  country  has  developed  as  has 
this  section.  Senator  Dolph  shows  that  the  foreign 
commerce  of  San  Francisco  has  grown  to  be  as  large 
as  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  be- 
tween 1820  and  1830.  The  great  disadvantage  under 
which  the  Pacific  coast  labors  is  that  it  is  about  as 
great  a  distance  from  the  Pacific  ports,  San  Fran- 
cisco, for  instance,  to  Liverpool,  as  it  is  to  New  York. 
It  is  only  170  miles  further  from  San  Francisco  to 
Liverpool  than  from  San  Francisco  to  New  York, 
whilst  from  San  Francisco  to  New  Orleans  it  is  212 
miles  further  than  from  San  Francisco  to  Liverpool. 
New  York,  however,  by  the  canal  would  be  820  miles 
nearer  the  Pacific  Ocean  than  by  the  Union  Pacific 
railroad.  The  mind  can  scarcely  calculate  the  great 
importance  of  this  canal  to  the  Pacific  coast.  It  is 
almost  impossible  for  the  Eastern  citizen  to  appre- 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  167 

ciate  the  empire  which  we  have  upon  the  Pacific 
coast,  an  empire  not  alone  of  territory,  but  an  em- 
pire of  trade,  which  should  be  bound  to  us  by  every 
tie  of  commerce.  The  Pacific  coast  has  within  its 
boundary  that  which  we  of  the  middle  West  and  of 
the  East  must  absolutely  have  as  cheaply  as  possi- 
ble. The  timber  of  the  East  is  being  rapidly  ex- 
hausted and  will  not  long  stand  the  great  strain 
which  has  been  put  upon  the  supply.  Upon  the  Pa- 
cific coast  there  are  twenty-five  millions  of  acres  of 
the  finest  timber  on  the  earth,  and  this  timber  must 
be  brought  by  the  cheapest  route  to  the  great  manu- 
facturing centers  of  our  Republic.  From  the  Lum- 
berman we  got  an  idea  of  the  great  wealth  of  the  sec- 
tion in  the  matter  of  timber.  Here  we  have  suffi- 
cient lumber  to  supply  the  world  for  many  decades 
to  come,  and  no  one  can  form  any  conception  by 
mere  figures. 

To  compare  it  with  the  world's  needs  of  to-day, 
the  truth  of  this  assertion  is  manifest.  Imagine  a 
belt  of  timber,  and  by  timber  we  mean  a  dense  for- 
est, almost  impenetrable  with  underbrush  and  wind- 
falls several  feet  thick,  with  hundreds  of  trees  to  the 
acre,  many  of  which  are  from  two  to  four  hundred 
feet  high,  so  high  in  fact  and  so  thick  that  the  sun 
never  penetrates  the  forest  of  absolute  eternal  shade; 
every  acre  of  it  contains  thousands  of  feet  of  the 
finest  kind  of  timber,  every  tree  waiting  for  the 
woodman's  ax  and  the  sawman's  saw,  to  be  converted 
into  lumber.  Imagine  such  a  forest  one  single  mile 


168  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

in  width  and  long  enough  to  girdle  the  earth  three 
times  around  its  entire  circumference,  and  an  addi- 
ditional  lap  from  Puget  Sound  to  the  Atlantic  Sea- 
board. It  is  difficult  to  grasp  such  stupendous  fig- 
ures, yet  if  one  can  fix  such  a  picture  in  his  imagina- 
tion he  can  form  some  idea  of  our  timber  supply;  or 
imagine  every  city  and  street  and  every  country  road 
in  the  United  States  planked  fifty  feet  in  width  with 
lumber  from  forests  in  these  States  and  enough  left  to 
supply  all  the  demand  for  building  purposes  for 
years  to  come.  As  an  illustration  of  the  greatness  of 
the  traffic,  the  mills  of  Washington  put  out  last  year 
1,800,000,000  shingles.  These  shingles  are  being  ship- 
ped to  every  part  of  the  United  States,  they  come 
heavily  ladened  by  the  long  haul.  There  is  shipped 
from  Puget  Sound  and  the  Western  coast  of  the 
United  States  an  enormous  amount  of  lumber  needed 
for  spars  and  for  the  various  fine  manufacturing  pur- 
poses of  this  section.  This  lumber  comes  burdened 
to  the  East  by  voyage  of  from  fifty  days  by  steamer 
or  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  by 
sail  around  Cape  Horn,  when  by  the  completing  of 
the  canal  from  the  time  it  leaves  San  Francisco  or 
Portland  until  it  arrives  at  New  York  city  would  be 
only  forty  or  fifty  days  by  sail  and  twenty  days  by 
steamer,  with  the  distance  lessened  ten  thousand 
miles. 

During  the  year  1893  the  amount  of  lumber 
shipped  from  Puget  Sound  to  foreign  ports  was 
86,428,339  feet.  Of  this,  11,105,260  went  to  Great 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal  169 

Britain  and  the  continent  of  Europe.  Every  ton  of 
this  lumber  costs  from  ten  to  twelve  dollars  by  the 
Horn  by  sail,  and  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  dollars 
by  steam.  By  rail  the  rate  is  too  great  for  success- 
ful transcontinental  shipment.  By  the  canal  the 
freight  will  be  reduced  to  eight  dollars  per  thousand, 
and  the  time  to  one-third.  The  change  that  will  be 
brought  about  in  this  traffic  between  our  Pacific 
coast  and  our  Atlantic  cities  will  be  further  appre- 
ciated when  you  understand  that  from  New  York  to 
San  Francisco,  round  the  Horn,  it  is  14,840  miles, 
but  by  the  canal  it  is  but  4,760  miles,  showing  a  sav- 
ing of  10,080  on  the  trip  out,  and  20,160  miles,  or 
almost  the  circumference  of  the  globe,  on  the  round 
trip.  The  present  capacity  of  mills  on  Puget  Sound 
alone  is  1,000,000,000  feet  per  annum. 

There  is  stumpage  to  the  amount  of  400,000,000 
of  feet  on  the  Pacific  coast  alone.  Consider  the 
effect  of  the  lessening  of  the  freight  on  this  lumber 
from  three  to  four  dollars  on  the  1,000,  and  what  an 
impulse  it  will  give  to  this  great  industry.  Instead 
of  the  present  comparatively  small  production  of  lum- 
ber on  the  Pacific  coast,  a  short  time  would  witness  an 
enormous  increase  in  this  industry.  A  magnificent 
commerce  will  be  inaugurated  which  can  scarcely  be 
appreciated  by  the  East. 

When  this  route  is  shortened  there  will  be  a  sav- 
ing in  one  year  upon  the  article  of  timber  alone,  of 
enough  to  more  than  construct  the  canal.  Timber 
is  not  the  only  great  article  of  commerce.  The  im- 


170  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

mense  product  of  the  wheat  fields  of  the  Pacific  must 
be  considered.  Senator  Squire  estimates  that  the 
State  of  Washington  alone  has  the  productive  capac- 
ity of  200,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  per  annum. 
There  was  exported  last  year  from  Puget  Sound,  San 
Francisco  and  Willamette,  Oregon,  about  20,000,000 
bushels  of  wheat,  and  only  about  150,000  bushels  of 
this  wheat  went  to  countries  not  tributary  to  this 
canal;  the  rest  went  to  New  York  and  Europe.  The 
canal  will  reduce  freight  charges  two  dollars  per 
ton.  From  these  same  ports  last  year  there  were 
shipped  nearly  1,300,000  barrels  of  flour.  Of  this 
flour  the  larger  proportion  went  to  countries  not 
tributary  to  the  canal,  but  still  a  large  proportion  of 
this  product  will  seek  the  markets  of  Europe  through 
the  canal.  The  wheat  shipped  to  Liverpool  takes 
about  four  months,  and  costs  about  twenty-six  cents 
per  bushel.  The  cost  of  transportation  around  the 
Horn  is  not  the  chief  trouble,  it  is  the  length  of  time 
required  by  the  voyage.  When  the  route  to  Europe 
will  be  lessened  nearly  10,000  miles,  tremendous  will 
be  the  increase  in  this  great  article  of  commerce. 

It  means  more  than  this.  By  the  passage  around 
the  Horn  wheat  is  subject  to  a  great  change  in  tem- 
perature ;  by  the  quicker  passage  through  the  canal 
this  great  danger  will  be  avoided,  and  the  wheat  can 
be  delivered  in  London  in  as  good  a  condition  as 
when  shipped  from  San  Francisco. 

The  great  wheat-growing  competition  existing  be- 
tween this  country  and  the  Argentine  Confederation 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  171 

will  within  a  short  time  have  a  very  great  effect  upon 
the  United  States.  Out  of  the  great  abundance  of 
wheat  raised  on  the  Pacific  coast  millions  of  bushels 
go  to  Europe.  The  Argentine  Confederation  will  be 
our  great  competitor.  It  costs  very  much  more  to 
raise  wheat  in  this  country  than  it  does  in  the  Argen- 
tine Confederation.  If  we  do  not  have  some  great 
advantage  in  the  way  of  transportation  the  cheap 
production  of  the  Argentine  wheat  will  destroy  our 
European  market,  for  the  market  is  not  growing  with 
the  production.  The  building  of  this  canal  will  place 
Pacific  coast  wheat  on  a  very  great  plane  of  advan- 
tage over  the  Argentine  wheat.  To  appreciate  this 
statement  you  must  remember  that  Argentina  has 
her  surface  only  scratched  in  a  few  places  ;  yet  last 
year,  whilst  the  United  States  exported  159,500,000 
bushels  of  wheat,  Argentina  exported  45,375,000 
bushels.  Mark  you,  Argentina  is  only  scratched. 

By  the  canal  the  time  between  San  Francisco  and 
Liverpool  will  be  reduced  to  twenty-five  days'  steam.  In 
addition  to  the  great  products  of  wheat  and  lumber, 
there  is  the  fruit  trade,  and  the  fur  trade,  and  the 
fisheries  of  the  Pacific  coast,  all  of  which  are  the 
largest  and  best  in  the  world. 

Considering  the  estimate  which  has  been  made  of 
the  Pacific  coast  traffic  by  the  promoters  of  the  canal, 
we  find  that  even  their  greatest  expectations  have 
been  distanced  by  the  year  1894.  In  the  articles  of 
green  fruits  and  dried  fruit,  raisins,  and  canned 
goods,  the  estimate  is  much  greater  than  was  calcu- 


172  The  Nicaraguan  Ctinal. 

lated.  Senator  White  states  that  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia produced  in  these  four  articles  last  year  212,- 
000  tons  of  freight  at  a  valuation  of  $4,240,000.  The 
same  authority  estimates  that  there  was  over  800,000 
gallons  of  brandy  shipped  in  1894,  and  he  estimates 
that  no  less  than  two  millions  of  dollars  per  year  will 
be  saved  the  fruit-growers  alone  by  the  construction 
of  the  canal.  He  estimates  that  on  wheat  there  will 
always  be  a  saving  of  two  dollars  per  ton. 

In  addition  to  all  these  actual  advantages  in  short- 
ening the  time  between  the  Pacific  coast  and  the 
East,  there  will  be  the  greater  question  of  certainty. 
Around  Cape  Horn  has  been  since  commerce  began 
one  of  the  hardest  trips  known  to  the  mariner.  The 
great  winds  around  the  Cape  for  the  sailing  vessels, 
and  the  tortuous  uncertainty  and  dangerous  passage- 
way through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  has  been  one 
of  the  greatest  troubles  in  commerce.  When  wheat 
is  shipped  no  one  knows  when  it  will  reach  its  des- 
tination, or  what  changes  there  will  be  in  the  market 
between  shipment  and  arrival,  or  when  the  return 
cargo  will  be  shipped.  With  the  canal  there  will  be 
a  simple  run  down  the  coast,  a  passage  through  the 
quiet  waters  of  the  canal,  and  a  run  up  the  coast  on 
the  eastern  side  or  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  Eu- 
rope. More  than  all  of  this,  it  will  be  an  advantage 
to  the  Pacific  coast  by  the  lessening  of  railroad 
freights.  The  railway  freights  along  the  inter-conti- 
nental railway  routes  are  just  simply  what  the  rail- 
road authorities  choose  to  make  them.  No  country 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  173 

except  the  Pacific  coast  would  have  grown  under 
such  detrimental  forces.  With  the  canal  completed 
the  Pacific  coast  will  no  longer  be  hampered  in  the 
race  for  commercial  supremacy.  The  previous  dis- 
cussion will  do  away  with  the  necessity  for  discuss- 
ing the  effect  of  the  canal  upon  the  eastern  part  of 
this  country.  Let  us  turn  from  the  commercial  to 
the  diplomatic  and  military  view  of  the  canal. 

The  diplomatic  side  of  this  question  is  very  inte- 
resting. What  right  has  this  government  to  build 
or  to  assist  in  building  this  canal  ?  What  rights 
have  this  government  under  the  existing  treaties 
between  the  countries  of  the  world?  What  interest 
can  she  take  in  it  ?  We  answer,  that  leaving  out  the 
countries  of  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  this  country 
has  the  paramount  interest  in  this  work.  We  grant 
that  no  commercial  nation  should  be  discriminated 
against  in  the  matter  of  the  passage  of  its  commerce 
through  the  canal,  and  whilst  this  is  willingly  con- 
ceded, still  we  contend  that  our  government  should 
never,  under  any  circumstances,  allow  any  other 
than  itself  to  be  the  dominating  power  in  this 
great  enterprise.  Every  patriotic  citizen  of  the 
United  States  believes  that  our  country  should  be 
the  controlling  influence  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
construction  and  operation  of  this  canal.  All  of  us 
concur  in  the  proposition  that,  this  government 
should  be  the  dominating  power  in  this  hemisphere. 
British  statesmen,  fifty  years  ago,  clearly  saw  that 
there  would  be  but  one  power  which  could  in  any 


174  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

wise  contend  with  England  for  commercial  supre- 
macy. The  spirit  of  rivalry  is  not  even  of  such  late 
growth.  It  has  been  seen  and  understood  by  British 
statesmen  for  200  years.  In  the  minister's  remon- 
strance to  parliament  in  1670,  speaking  of  our  sailors, 
they  clearly  stated  that  which  expressed  then,  as  it 
does  now,  English  sentiment. 

"They  violate  our  ordinances  of  trade  with  im- 
punity, and  our  navigation  laws,  the  last  of  which 
with  infinite  pains  we  have  devised,  they  trample 
under  foot  with  disdain.  Their  traders  sally  out 
upon  the  deep;  we  find  them  seeking  entrance  in  all 
ports  of  Europe ;  they  even  encourage  foreigners  to 
trade  with  them." 

With  the  wise  commercial  foresight  which  has 
always  characterized  British  statesmen,  they  saw 
that  they  must  control  every  avenue  of  commerce. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  but  few  remained  free  from  British 
aggression  and  British  control.  Understanding  the 
far-reaching  importance  of  this  canal  and  knowing 
that  every  commercial  reason  demanded  that  the 
United  States  should  control  it  when  built,  the  Brit- 
ish government  stepped  in  and  undertook  to  have  a 
joint  control  with  the  United  States.  It  sought  to 
accomplish  this  by  putting  forward  claim  to  part  of 
the  territory  through  which  the  canal  would  pass; 
England  did  not  take  the  Mosquito  coast  abso- 
lutely as  her  possession,  but  seizing  a  part  of  Nica- 
ragua territory  upon  a  mere  claim,  she  crowned  a 
king  from  Nicaraguan  subjects  and  virtually  estab- 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal  175 

lished  a  protectorate  over  the  territory.  This  course 
was  taken  by  England  to  avoid  the  question  as  to 
her  infraction  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  and  was  in- 
intended  solely  to  force  upon  the  United  States  a 
joint  control  of  the  canal.  In  1850  the  two  govern- 
ments made  what  is  known  as  the  Clayton-Bulwer 
convention,  the  first  clause  in  which  treaty  provided 
that  "the  governments  of  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  hereby  declare  that  neither  one  or  the 
other  will  ever  obtain  or  maintain  for  itself  any  ex- 
clusive control  over  the  said  ship  canal."  This  clause 
is  the  real  gist  of  the  whole  treaty  on  the  part  of 
England,  and  is  the  condition  for  which  she  had  been 
really  contending.  The  convention  further  provided 
that  "  neither  one  government  or  the  other  will  ever 
colonize  or  assume,  or  exercise  any  dominion  over 
Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica  or  the  Mosquito  coast,  or  any 
part  of  Central  America."  In  other  words,  it  pro- 
vided that  neither  government  should  exercise  ex- 
clusive control  over  the  canal.  The  whole  treaty 
shows  that  it  was  intended  that  neither  one  or  the 
other  of  the  parties  to  the  convention  should  ex- 
clude the  other  from  the  benefits  arising  from  the 
great  work.  How  does  this  treaty  stand  to-day  ? 
In  the  opinion  of  great  international  lawyers  it  is 
void  for  the  reason  that  the  canal  was  not  com- 
pleted as  was  then  contemplated,  and  from  the  fur- 
ther reason  that  the  terms  of  the  treaty  were  not 
complied  with  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain.  Fur- 
thermore, any  provision  as  a  matter  of  politics  or 


176  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

State  policy  which  will  allow  the  government  of 
Great  Britain  to  participate  in  the  supreme  control 
of  this  canal  would  not  to-day  be  tolerated  by  the 
American  people.  This  is  a  plain  way  of  putting  it, 
but  it  is  a  very  honest  declaration  of  the  sentiment 
of  the  whole  nation.  At  that  time,  public  sentiment 
did  not  stand  where  it  does  to-day,  and  the  conditions 
under  which  the  treaty  was  consummated  are  not 
the  conditions  of  to-day. 

Irrespective  of  any  question  of  the  change  of 
public  sentiment  and  the  change  of  the  condition 
of  affairs,  the  treaty  has  been  abrogated  by  the 
acts  of  Great  Britain  herself.  She  systematically, 
and,  in  the  face  of  the  treaty,  colonized  the  Balize 
settlement,  which  has  been  increased  territorially, 
and  from  a  governmental  standpoint,  until  to-day  it 
is  a  part  of  the  imperial  government.  The  Mosquito 
coast  also  was  virtually  made  into  a  dependency  of 
the  British. 

This  policy  was  carried  out  by  Great  Britain  right 
in  the  face  of  the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  which  some 
people  are  in  the  habit  of  resurrecting  in  order  to  do 
away  with  the  construction  of  the  canal  by  the  United. 
States.  When  this  treaty  was  considered  the  Suez 
canal  was  not  constructed,  and  in  the  control  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  whole  burden  of  the  proceedings 
show  that  the  immediate  completion  of  the  canal 
was  contemplated.  This  was  in  1850.  Such  being 
the  status  of  affairs,  in  1867,  seventeen  years  after 
the  Clayton-Bulwer  treaty,  the  government  of  the 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  177 

United  States  concluded  with  the  Republic  of  Nica- 
ragua a  fair,  liberal  treaty.  Article  14  of  said  treaty 
is  as  follows:  "The  Republic  of  Nicaragua  hereby 
grants  to  the  United  States  and  their  citizens  and 
property  the  right  of  transit  between  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  Oceans  through  the  territory  of  that  re- 
public on  any  route  of  communication,  natural  or 
artificial,  whether  by' land  or  by  water,  which  may 
now  or  hereafter  exist  or  be  constructed  under  the 
authority  of  Nicaragua,  to  be  used  in  the  same  man- 
ner and  upon  equal  terms  by  both  republics  and 
their  respective  citizens — the  Republic  of  Nicaragua, 
however,  reserving  its  rights  of  soverignty  over  the 
same."  The  United  States  further  guaranteed  the 
neutrality  and  innocent  use  of  the  canal,  and 
this  government  also  has  the  right  to  carry  mu- 
nitions of  war  to  either  of  the  free  ports  estab- 
lished by  the  Nicaraguan  government,  and  the 
treaty  provided  further  that  should  it  become  neces- 
sary to  supply  military  force  it  will  provide  the  re- 
quisite force,  but  that  the  government  of  the  United 
States  may  do  so  upon  failure  on  the  part  of  the 
Nicaraguan  government.  This  treaty  further  pro- 
vides the  right  of  Congress  of  the  United  States  to 
legislate  so  as  to  provide  the  laws  for  the  carrying 
into  effect  this  treaty.  The  treaty  is  a  very  broad 
one.  The  British  government  two  years  afterwards 
made  a  similar  treaty  to  this  one  with  the  Nicara- 
guan government.  This  treaty  is  subject  to  the  pro- 
visions of  our  treaty.  In  1884  Mr.  Frelinghuysen 
12 


178  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

negotiated  a  very  broad  treaty  with  Nicaragua.  This 
treaty  virtually  granted  sovereignty  within  the  lim- 
its of  Nicaragua  to  the  United  States,  and  was  with- 
drawn by  the  President  from  consideration  by  the 
Senate. 

In  1887  Nicaragua  made  a  concession  to  Mr.  A.  G. 
Manacal  for  an  American  company  for  the  building 
and  operating  of  the  canal  for  ninety-nine  years. 
Very  large  and  important  provisions  were  conceded 
to  this  company,  which  was  composed  exclusively  of 
American  citizens,  but  all  of  these  concessions  are 
under,  and  entirely  consistent  with,  the  treaty  of 
1867,  which  gives  the  largest  latitude  on  the  part  of 
the  American  government  in  the  operation  and  de- 
fence of  this  canal.  The  bill  embodying  these  pro- 
visions and  concessions  was  the  one  which  was  in- 
troduced into  Congress,  and  was  the  one  which  was 
elaborately  discussed  in  the  last  Congress.  Since  the 
Clayton-Bulwer  treaty  public  sentiment  has  entirely 
changed,  and  the  conditions  have  entirely  changed. 
This  is  the  only  trade  avenue  not  now  in  the  control 
of  the  British  government,  and  this  is  of  more  vital 
importance  to  the  United  States  than  any  other  en- 
terprise, commercial  or  otherwise,  since  the  forma- 
tion of  this  government.  It  is  virtually  a  continua- 
tion of  the  coast  line  of  the  United  States.  In  con- 
nects and  binds  together  our  great  republic,  and 
every  consideration  of  diplomacy  and  self-interest 
makes  our  citizens  say  distinctly  but  firmly  that, 
notwithstanding  any  question  of  legal  casuistry  as 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  179 

to  treaty  obligations  with  England,  the  government 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  management  and  control 
of  this  great  avenue  of  commerce,  will  permit  no  in- 
terference from  other  nations.  Its  innocent  neu- 
trality, so  far  as  commerce  is  concerned,  will  be  guar- 
anteed by  our  nation.  No  larger  tolls  will  be  charged 
the  citizens  of  any  other  government  than  is  charged 
the  citizens  of  our  republic.  No  greater  burden  will 
be  put  upon  any  other  nation's  commerce  than  will 
be  put  upon  our  own;  but  when  questions  arise  con- 
cerning the  control  and  management  of  this  canal, 
in  moments  of  supreme  interest  to  our  government, 
it  must  be  distinctly  understood  by  the  nations  of 
the  earth  that  we  will  be  supreme.  No  other  nation 
but  England  will  gainsay  this  plain,  sensible  and 
palpable  proposition,  and  it  does  not  lie  in  the  mouth 
of  a  government  which,  in  the  face  of  neutrality 
treaties,  for  three  days  closed  the  Suez  canal  in  order 
to  assert  its  eminence  and  control  therein,  to  say  that 
in  a  trade  avenue  of  such  vital  importance  to  our 
government  that  we  shall  not  absolutely  control. 
Anyhow,  what  do  neutrality  treaties  mean  ?  They 
mean  simply  that  the  power  which  has  the  biggest 
guns  and  the  fastest  ships  and  the  closest  position  to 
the  neutral  zone  will  seize  it.  That  is  the  history  of 
neutral  zones  at  the  moment  of  a  contest  with  arms. 
Then  why  give  up  our  manifest  right  to  be  in  the 
controlling  position  in  case  of  trouble  ? 

President  Hayes  well  states  our  proposition:  "  The 
policy  of  this  government  is  a  canal  under  American 


180  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

control.    The  United  States  cannot  consent  to  the 
surrender  of  this  control  to  any  European  govern- 
ment.   If  existing  treaties  between  the  United  States 
and  other  nations,  or  if  the  rights  of  sovereignty  or 
property  by  other  nations  stand  in  the  way  of  this 
policy,  a  contingency  which  is  not   apprehended, 
suitable  steps  should  be  taken  by  just  and  liberal 
connections  to  promote  and  establish  the  American 
policy  on  this  subject  consistently  with  the  rights  of 
the  nations  to  be  affected  by  it.   The  capital  invested 
by  corporations  and  citizens  of  other  countries  in 
such  an  enterprise  must,  in  a  great  measure,  look  for 
protection  to  one  or  more  of  the  great  powers  of  the 
world.  No  European  power  would  intervene  for  such 
protection  without  measures  on  this  condition  which 
the  United  States  would  deem  wholly  inadmissible. 
If  the  protection  of  the  United  States  is  relied  upon, 
the  United  States  must  exercise  such  control  as  will 
enable  this  country  to  protect  its  national  interest 
and  maintain  the  rights  of  those  who  provide  capital 
to  embark  in  the  work.         ..... 

Our  commercial  interest  in  it  is  greater  than  that  of 
all  other  countries,  while  its  relation  to  our  power 
and  our  prosperity  as  a  nation,  to  our  means  of  de- 
fence, our  unity,  peace  and  safety  are  matters  of  para- 
mount concern  to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
No  other  great  power  would,  under  similar  circum- 
stances, fail  to  assert  a  rightful  control  over  a  work 
so  closely  and  vitally  affecting  its  interests  and.  wel- 
fare." 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  181 

In  the  opinion  of  some  people  the  Claytcn-Bulwer 
treaty  is  alive.  Surely  the  question  of  its  life  and 
death  can,  at  the  utmost,  be  but  a  question  of  doubt. 
In  whose  favor  shall  we  solve  the  doubt  ?  In  favor 
of  England  ?  Doubt  and  vacillation  have  already 
given  her  Egypt  and  the  Suez  canal.  Our  plain  duty 
is  to  give  our  country 'the  benefit  of  the  doubt,  and 
say  firmly  and  plainly  that  no  trammels  except  our 
treaty  obligations  to  Nicaragua  would  in  anywise  in- 
terfere  with  our  decision.  This  is  the  manner  in 
which  England  decides  all  questions  of  doubt  in 
which  she  may  be  interested.  Shall  we  be  less  fair 
-with  ourselves  ?  Shall  we  for  mere  sentiment  give 
up  our  plain  right  and  for  want  of  patriotism  throw 
away  a  kingdom  of  commerce  ?  If  we  do  so,  what 
we  now  throw  away  in  diplomacy,  sooner  or  later,  we 
will  be  compelled  to  fight  for  in  war.  The  diplomatic 
discussion  brings  to  us  the  kindred  and  incidental 
question  of  the  purely  strategical  and  military  im- 
portance of  the  work.  Every  interest  of  the  United 
States  demands  that  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  Ca- 
ribbean Sea  should,  from  a  military  standpoint,  be 
really  American  seas,  absolutely  under  the  military 
strategical  domain  of  the  United  States.  To  carry 
out  the  Monroe  doctrine  it  is  necessary  that  our  gov- 
ernment have  power  right  at  hand  to  easily  handle. 
This  government  must  protect  its  southern  neighbors 
from  the  actual  control  and  occupancy  of  trans-con- 
tinental and  non-republican  powers.  This  debt,  by 


182  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

her  power,  location  and  importance,  is  forced  upon 
this  country. 

I  do  not  mean  by  this  proposition  to  assert  mere 
jingoism.  I  do  not  believe  that  this  government 
should  be  ready  to  take  up  every  quarrel  which  a 
South  American  country  may  have  with  the  Euro- 
pean powers.  The  Monroe  doctrine  does  not  mean 
that  this  country  should  act  the  bully  in  South  Ame- 
rican complications  with  European  governments. 
The  Monroe  doctrine  does  mean,  however,  the  vig- 
orous determination  on  the  part  of  this  country  that 
there  shall  be  no  permanent  aggression  upon  South 
American  States  by  European  governments.  It  means 
that  we  will  not  allow  the  form  of  free  American  gov- 
ernments which  we  have  recognized  to  be  changed  by 
theinfluenceof  Continental  governments.  It  means 
that  no  combination  of  European  governments 
against  American  governments  will  be  tolerated  on 
the  part  of  this  government.  And  it  means  more 
than  that — that  we  will  not  allow  the  permanent 
widening  and  extending  of  European  colonization 
and  influence  within  the  territorial  limits  of  South 
America.  It  expressly  says  that  with  "  the  existing 
colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European  power  we 
have  not  interfered  and  shall  not  interfere;  but  with 
the  governments  which  have  declared  their  independ- 
ence, which  we  have  on  great  consideration  and  just 
principles  recognized,  we  could  not  view  any  inter- 
position for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  them  or  con- 
trolling in  any  other  manner  their  destiny  by  Euro- 


The  Niearaguan  Canal.  183 

pean  powers  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  manifesta- 
tion of  an  unfriendly  disposition  towards  the  United 
State*" 

I  take  it  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  means  some- 
thing.    That  President  Monroe  when  he  said — "  We 
owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor  and  to  the  amicable  rela- 
tions existing  between  the  United  States  and  those 
powers   to   declare    that   we   should    consider   any 
attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  systems  to  any 
portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace 
and  safety.         ..... 

We  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose 
of  oppressing  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner 
their  destiny  by  any  European  power  in  any  other 
light  than  as  a  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  dis- 
position towards  the  United  States  " — meant  that  the 
European  governments  could  not  reconquer  and  re- 
colonize  and  divide  South  American  States.  The 
Allied  European  governments  at  the  time  of  the 
enunciation  of  this  doctrine  so  understood  that  he 
meant  exactly  what  he  said  at  that  time  and  took 
their  hands  away  from  the  South  American  territory. 
If  the  Monroe  doctrine  did  not  mean  just  what  it 
said,  or,  if  to-day,  it  has  changed  its  meaning,  then 
eliminate  it  from  our  unwritten  law,  for  it  is  but 
sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals. 

Despite  the  refining  influence  induced  by  ultra- 
conservative  political  considerations  the  common 
people  of  the  United  States  believe  that  the  doctrine 
is  to-day  just  what  it  was  when  it  destroyed  the  alii- 


184  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

ance  of  European  sovereigns  who  attempted  to  par- 
tition the  territory  of  South  America  among  them. 

I  confess  that  from  a  political  standpoint  I  cannot 
differentiate  between  England  dismembering  Vene- 
zuela, a  free  republican  government,  and  the  Allied 
sovereigns  partitioning  South  America  among  them- 
selves. Therefore,  if  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  to  be 
maintained  this  country  must  be  potent  from  a  naval 
or  strategical  view  in  the  Southern  seas. 

The  Gulf  of  Mexico  will,  from  its  location,  become 
the  centre  of  the  largest  carrying  trade  of  the  world. 
The  greater  part  of  it  will  be  American.  Its  position 
is  such  that  it  dominates  the  richest  territory  in  the 
world,  the  heart  and  centre  of  the  United  States,  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Its  defence  is  not 
local  as  would  be  the  defence  of  the  harbor  of  a  great 
city.  Its  loss  would  affect  Maine  as  well  as  Missis- 
sippi. Every  ship  owner  or  cargo  owner  having  an 
interest  in  the  great  carrying  trade  of  the  West  would 
be  affected. 

Says  a  distinguished  statesman,  once  at  the  head 
of  the  war  department,  "  And  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  evils  which  would  result  from  the  tem- 
porary occupancy  of  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi  or 
from  a  successful  blockade  of  the  coasts  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  would  not  only  injure  the  prosperity  of 
these  States,  but  would  deeply  affect  the  interest  of 
the  whole  Union.  No  reasonable  expense,  therefore, 
ought  to  be  spared  to  guard  against  such  a  casualty." 

The  canal  will  be  the  virtual  southern  boundary 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  185 

of  the  United  States,  and  from  a  military  standpoint 
it  would  be  ruinous  to  the  United  States  for  any  other 
country  to  control  it. 

Could  any  Central  American  state  control  it?  The 
first  revolution  would  put  it  in  the  hands  of  some 
strong  European  power,  and  any  European  power 
in  this  hemisphere  would  be  inimical  to  the  inter- 
ests of  this  government.  No  private  party  or  cor- 
poration could  hold  it.  No  weak  power  can  hold  it. 
It  must  be  in  a  masterful  grasp.  In  case  of  war,  and 
war  must  be  considered,  the  strategical  relations  of 
this  canal  to  this  hemisphere  will  be  very  much 
more  important  than  the  relation  of  the  Suez  to  the 
Eastern  hemisphere.  Consider  its  strategical  situa- 
tion and  the  great  military  possibilities  it  develops. 
Careful  surveys  of  every  portion  of  Central  America 
have  shown  that  the  only  feasible  route  between  the 
oceans  is  the  Nicaraguan  route,  and  that  route  is 
through  the  great  fresh  water  lake  of  Nicaragua. 
This  lake  has  sufficient  capacity  to  hold  the  navies 
of  the  world,  and  it  is  the  only  portion  of  Central 
America  where  health  reigns.  It  is  in  the  gap  of 
the  mountains  through  which  the  cool  trade  winds 
blow  and  prevent  fever  and  miasma.  Here  is  the 
only  place  in  Central  America  where  the  stricken  or 
wounded  sailor  can  enjoy  the  coolness  of  a  mountain 
sanitarium,  with  fresh  water  and  tropical  fruits  in 
abundance.  At  Panama  men  died  like  flies  and 
were  as  little  considered.  At  Nicaragua,  out  of 
1,600  men  employed  by  the  Nicaraguan  company 


186  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

for  four  months]  only  two  died,  and  from  200  men 
from  a  colder  climate,  not  one  died  of  disease  inci- 
dent to  the  climate.  It  is  a  lake  whose  soft  water 
will  cleanse  the  bottom  of  the  ship  from  every  im- 
purity, and  where  our  country  may  place  its  dry 
docks,  hospitals,  coal  stations,  warehouses,  repair 
shops,  and  arrange  all  the  paraphernalia  necessary 
for  naval  affairs.  The  treaty  of  1867  with  Nicara- 
gua is  broad  enough  to  give  us  the  right  to  erect 
fortifications  for  our  soldiers  sent  there  under  this 
treaty.  It  is  broad  enough  to  allow  our  navy  to  be  sta- 
tioned there  as  a  base  for  strategical  operations  in  both 
oceans.  If  it  is  not,  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua  has 
shown  that  its  Americanism  is  sufficiently  liberal  to 
confer  upon  us  such  powers  as  are  necessary  to  make 
us  the  controlling  influence  in  the  canal.  We  ask 
no  sovereignty  over  Central  American  territory.  We 
do  not  seek  to  invade  the  traditions  of  our  past  by 
assuming  sovereignty  over  any  other  than  our  own 
territory,  but  it  would  be  the  husk  without  the  corn 
to  present  us  the  right  to  supply  millions  of  money 
to  build  this  great  work,  and  say  that  we  have  not 
the  power  to  protect  it  by  works  sufficient  for  that 
purpose.  For  us  to  refuse  to  do  so  would  be  to 
evince  a  spirit  of  national  self-abnegation  and  weak 
sentimentalism  which  would  be  viewed  among  the 
nations  with  derision  and  contempt. 

With  the  prescience  which  seems  almost  miracu- 
lous, England  readily  discovered  that  on  this  con- 
tinent would  rise  her  great  naval  rival.  With  the 


I 


F 


BAILROAD  BRIDGE  ACROSS  BENARD  CREEK. 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  187 

energy  which  has  characterized  that  nation,  she 
steadily  set  herself  to  work  to  reach  out  and  environ 
this  government  with  commercial  outposts  in  times 
of  peace,  and  fortifications  in  times  of  war.  Con- 
sidering her  single  idea  predominance,  we  can  well 
say  of  England — 

"  Through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs." 

Seeing  that  the  undeveloped  territory  of  South 
America  would  be  one  of  the  trade  emporiums  of  the 
world,  she  has  erected  her  military  force  so  that 
every  merchant  vessel  sailing  from  New  York  or 
Boston,  or  any  of  our  eastern  ports,  on  its  way  to 
the  rich  trading  fields  of  South  America  must  pass 
British  fortifications  and  British  naval  stations. 
She  has  located  great  fortifications  at  the  Bermudas, 
within  two  days  of  New  York.  On  the  Pacific  and 
on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  she  is 
ready  to  strike  our  defenceless  cities  and  interfere 
with  our  commerce.  In  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa 
her  frowning  forts  and  shotted  guns  control  every 
vital  position,  and  the  black  hulls  of  her  men-of-war 
darken  every  ocean. 

"  She  has  encompassed  the  whole  world  with  her 
outposts  and  military  possessions,  and  her  morning 
drum-beat,  following  the  sun  in  its  course,  keeping 
company  with  the  hours,  encircles  the  globe  with 
one  continuous  and  unbroken  peal  of  the  martial  airs 
of  England." 

Like  the  stars  of  the  sky,  her  coaling  stations  and 


188  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

naval  depots  dot  the  Pacific  Ocean.  She  owns  the 
Bahamas,  the  Windward  and  the  Leeward  islands,  Ja- 
maica, Tobago,  and  Trinidad,  and  to-day  can  abso- 
lutely bottle  up  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Every 
pass  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is  controlled  by  her 
forts.  Our  vessels  on  their  way  to  California  must 
pass  in  times  of  war  through  a  sea  controlled  by 
islands  from  whose  harbors  English  men-of-war,  tho- 
roughly equipped  with  every  paraphernalia  of  war 
and  every  appliance  necessary  for  offence  and  de- 
fence. She  has  located  herself  on  the  continent  of 
South  America,  where  she  can  strike  at  our  com- 
merce and  absolutely  drive  us  out  of  the  country. 
Above  us  on  the  western  coast  is  the  great  strategical 
and  military  post  on  Vancouver  Island,  from  whence 
she  can  swoop  down  upon  our  States  on  the  Pacific. 
From  the  military  and  naval  depots  of  Canada  she 
can  quickly  reach  our  great  eastern  ports. 

In  every  part  of  the  New  World  the  government 
of  the  United  States  is  menaced  by  English  trading 
stations  in  times  of  peace  and  by  British  fortifications 
in  times  of  war.  So  it  is  with  the  Old  World:  She 
sits  like  a  lion  crouched  at  Gibraltar;  she  controls 
Cyprus  and  Malta,  and  Ceylon,  and  the  Suez  canal, 
and  Egypt;  and  despite  the  power  and  diplomacy  of 
European  nations,  the  Mediterranean  Sea  is  to-day  a 
British  lake.  She  has  drawn  around  the  whole  world 
a  wall  of  forts,  from  which  from  one  to  the  other  can 
be  heard  the  boom  of  her  guns. 

When  I  speak  of  England  I  mention  her  in  no 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  189 

spirit  of  acrimony,  but  rather  with  a  feeling  of  ad- 
miration for  the  country  which  has,  in  and  out  of 
season,  so  carefully  protected  her  commerce  and  her 
military  interests. 

Our  next  war  will  be  virtually  a  naval  war.  It 
will  consist  almost  exclusively  of  naval  conflicts  be- 
tween hostile  fleets,  preying  on  the  enemy's  merchant 
service  and  the  levying  of  tribute  on  our  defenceless 
cities.  To  be  effectual  in  protection  or  aggression 
our  fleet  must  be  in  position  to  give  aid  either  to  the 
Atlantic  or  Pacific  Oceans,  with  the  power  to  meet 
the  Pacific  squadron  at  San  Francisco  in  seven  days 
and,  if  necessary,  fight  a  battle  on  the  coast  of  Mex- 
ico, and  within  twenty  days'  time  be  back  in  the  har- 
bor of  the  lake,  and  then  within  a  short  sail  be  able 
to  protect  New  Orleans  or  to  steam  to  Kingston, 
Gaudaloupe,  or  the  Bermudas.  If  necessary,  in  five 
days  it  could  be  defending  Savannah,  then  join  our 
fleet  at  Hampton  Roads,  or  be  back  at  Mobile,  and 
then  through  the  canal  to  the  coast  of  Peru  or  Chili. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  there  should  be  a  serious  con- 
troversy on  the  coast  of  Brazil.  Consider  the  disad- 
vantage our  government  would  be  compelled  to  un- 
dergo. The  Pacific  squadron  would  be  compelled  to 
steam  down  the  coast  of  South  America,  around  Cape 
Horn  to  the  shoulder  of  South  America,  ten  thousand 
miles,  when  in  all  probability  the  trouble  would  have 
been  over  or  an  irreparable  injury  have  been  done  to 
our  commercial  interests. 

There  are  two  passes  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.   One 


190  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

is  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  through  the  straits  of 
Florida,  between  the  island  of  Cuba  and  the  Florida 
Keys.  The  Bahama  Islands  lie  absolutely  across 
this  great  and  chief  pass,  and  every  ship  from  New 
York  or  Boston,  or  the  Eastern  coast,  bound  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  or  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  must 
pass  through  a  cordon  of  British  fortified  islands. 
These  islands  stretch  from  a  short  distance  of  the 
southeastern  Florida  coast  to  within  a  short  distance 
of  Hayti.  The  other  pass  is  from  the  Caribbean  Sea 
and  is  through  the  channel  of  Yucatan,  between  Cuba 
and  Yucatan.  This  pass  is  dominated  by  the  mag- 
nificent island  of  Jamaica,  in  whose  land  locked 
harbor  of  Kingston  1,000  ships  may  safely  lie. 
Nearer  yet  to  the  pass  lie  the  Little  and  Great  Cay- 
man Islands,  both  British  possessions.  More  than 
this,  unless  ships  will  enter  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
through  the  straits  of  Florida,  passing  the  Bahama 
Islands,  they  will  be  compelled  to  go  through  the 
Windward  Passage,  between  Cuba  and  Hayti,  or 
through  the  Mona  Passage,  between  Hayti  and  Porto 
Rico,  or  through  the  passage  between  the  Windward 
Islands  into  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

In  every  case  commerce  will  be  compelled  to  pass 
by  the  island  of  Jamaica.  The  last  passage  through 
the  Windward  Islands,  by  reason  of  the  tortuous 
navigation,  would  be  almost  impossible,  and  for  the 
further  reason  that  the  British  absolutely  dominate 
the  entrance  into  the  Caribbean  Sea  from  the  shoulder 
of  South  America, 


The  N'icaraguan  Canal.  191 

In  addition  to  this  great  cordon  of  islands  from 
the  Great  Bahama  Island,  stretching  from  near  the 
Coast  of  Florida  through  the  Bahama  Islands,  and 
Leeward  and  Windward  Islands  to  the  islands  of 
Trinidad,  right  on  the  coast  of  South  America,  there 
are  the  Central  American  Provinces  of  British  Hon- 
duras and  the  Mosquito  coast,  which  are  parts  of 
the  very  continent  which  must  be  pierced  by  this 
canal. 

England's  strategical  and  commercial  encroach- 
ments have  not  been  confined  alone  to  the  islands  of 
the  Caribbean  Sea  and  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Her 
present  contention  with  Venezuela  is  fraught  with 
even  more  vital  consequence  to  this  government 
than  any  other  in  which  England  has  ever  engaged. 
The  success  of  her  attempt  to  control  the  mouth  of 
the  Orinoco  river  with  its  vast  military  and  commer- 
cial importance  will  virtually  turn  over  Northeastern 
South  America  to  Great  Britain.  With  the  mouth 
of  the  Orinoco  in  the  hands  of  England  every  in- 
terest demands  that  we  have  a  fleet  in  the  canal  or 
near  to  Western  South  America.  The  importance 
of  this  river  can  scarcely  be  realized.  It  dominates 
the  best  parts  of  Venezuela  and  a  large  part  of 
Columbia.  Venezuela  has  a  territory  of  597,960 
square  miles,  and  is  greater  in  extent  than  Texas, 
Colorado,  Idaho,  and  California.  This  great  river  is 
three  miles  wide,  600  miles  from  its  mouth,  and 
has  tides  to  the  city  of  Bolivar,  nearly  400  miles 
from  the  ocean.  It  has  436  affluents,  some  of  them 


192  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

great  rivers.  Venezuela  is  one  of  the  great  States  of 
South  America,  and  the  Orinoco  and  Amazon  rivers, 
as  I  have  said  before,  have  their  outlet  with  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  in  the  straits  of  Florida,  and  should  not 
be  tributary  to  any  other  than  a  South  American 
government.  The  valley  of  the  Orinoco  is  one  of  the 
richest  in  the  world.  The  climate  of  the  State  is 
magnificent  and  is  as  varied,  by  reason  of  its  different 
elevations,  as  any  on  the  globe.  The  plains  are  rich 
and  fertile,  and  the  mountains  are  filled  with  rich 
minerals  and  clothed  with  magnificent  and  rare 
woods.  Here  the  best  cereal  and  the  most  luscious 
fruit  grow  side  by  side,  and  it  is  a  land  fitted  by 
nature  to  be  the  grazing  field  of  the  world. 

From  the  Orinoco  by  navigable  stream  you  may 
pass  to  the  Amazon.  With  the  Orinoco  in  the  grasp 
of  England  in  times  of  war  no  American  ship,  unless 
protected,  can  safely  pass  Northern  South  America 
on  its  way  to  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon.  Within 
England's  control  will  be  a  splendid  harbor,  backed 
by  a  rich  country,  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  and 
reaching  almost  to  the  other  ocean. 

In  every  instance,  every  strategical  point  along 
the  northern  coast  of  South  America,  along  Cen- 
tral America  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  is  controlled 
by  British  possessions  and  British  fortifications,  and 
the  only  possibility  of  this  government  protecting 
the  vast  interests  of  the  Mississippi  valley  and  of 
its  South  American  commerce  and  of  its  southern 
carrying  trade  in  general  would  be  from  the  fortifi- 


The  Nicaraguan  Canal.  193 

cations  and  the  land-locked  harbor  of  the  Inter- 
oceanic  canal. 

Can  we  longer  refuse  to  accept  our  destiny?  Is 
there  not  danger  that  the  crown  may  not  again  be 
offered  us?  .Is  it  wise  statesmanship  for  us  to  delay 
this  important  enterprise?  Year  by  year  our  in- 
creasing commerce  will  surely  demand  that  we  have 
a  strong  hand  beyond  our  mere  territorial  limits. 

It  is  true  that  the  mighty  tread  of  our  free  people 
shakes  the  world;  that  we  have  conquered  a  conti- 
nent and  have  hewn  the  path  of  a  splendid  civiliza- 
tion broad  and  plain  from  sea  to  sea ;  that  we  have 
conquered  in  all  our  wars  with  alien  foes,  and  the 
government  has  remained  steady  and  vigorous  amidst 
internecine  strife.  Yet  in  the  day  of  our  power,  let 
us  look  ahead,  and  not  wantonly  throw  away  the 
broad  empire  of  a  world's  commerce.  Let  us  re- 
member that  our  republican  form  of  government  is 
only  a  trial,  and  that  ere  long  we  may  be  compelled 
alone  to  face  the  combined  jealousies  of  the  Old 
World.  Whilst  we  can,  let  us  seize  the  gateway  of 
the  world's  commerce,  and  with  these  gates  in  our 
strong  hands  we  can  laugh  to  scorn  the  combined 
jealousies  of  the  monarchies  of  the  Old  World. 

A  great  writer  has  said  that  the  twentieth  century 
will  witness  two  colossal  nations  to  which  other  na- 
tions of  the  earth  will  be  as  pigmies — the  United 
States  of  America  and  Russia.  The  despotic  gov- 
ernment of  Russia  may  delay  her  ultimate  des- 
tiny, but  with  commerce  untrammeled  and  bar- 
is 


194  The  Nicaraguan  Canal. 

riers  broken  down  our  country  will  brook  no  delay 
in  her  majestic  career.  If  we  are  but  true  to 
our  traditions,  and  grasp  our  opportunities  firmly, 
our  people  will  early  see  the  day  when  the  dusky 
foot  of  the  Eastern  mother  will  tread  the  pedals  of 
the  American  sewing  machine;  when  the  merry 
click  of  the  American  reaper  will  be  heard  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges;  when  in  Eastern  lands  beau- 
tiful structures  rivaling  the  Taj  will  rear  their  fair 
heads,  fashioned  by  the  keen  edge  of  American  tools ; 
when  American  engines  will  rush  and  roar  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Rio  Negro,  the  Amazon  and  the  Ori- 
noco; when  the  products  of  American  looms  will  be 
sold  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas  and  sought  for  in 
the  valleys  of  the  Andes;  and  when  the  seas  will  be 
merry  with  the  laugh  of  the  American  sailor  and 
bright  with  the  gleam  of  our  sails.  Then  the  ge- 
nius of  our  free  institutions,  permeating  and  rehabili 
tating,  glorifying  the  nations  of  the  earth,  will  have 
subserved  its  purpose  in  making  all  nations  co-heirs 
with  us  in  the  blessings  of  free  government. 

With  this  grand  destiny  so  near  consummation, 
surely  our  magnificent  energy  will  break  away  the 
last  barrier  to  the  peoples  of  the  earth,  and  then^ 

"  Creation's  heir 
The  World,  the  World  is  mine." 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE. 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE. 


EDMUND  BURKE,  the  greatest  of  European  statesmen 
during  the  eighteenth  century,  has  traced  the  history 
of  European  settlements  in  the  two  Americas  with  a 
master  hand.  Robertson's  History  of  America  to  a 
large  extent  is  an  elaboration  of  Burke's  admirable 
compendium. 

No  intelligent  American  can  read  this  compen- 
dium by  the  great  orator  and  statesman  without  be- 
coming convinced  that  the  domination  of  Europe  in 
the  affairs  of  this  hemisphere — "  cisatlantic  affairs/' 
as  Jefferson  called  them — has  been  the  darling  dream 
of  thrones  since  the  discovery  of  America  by  Colum- 
bus. For  a  century  and  a  half  before  the  American 
Revolution,  England  and  France  waged  constant 
war  in  North  America  for  supremacy.  Thanks  to 
her  American  colonies  and  the  Indian  Confederacy 
of  the  Iroquois  or  Five  Nations,  England  finally  van- 
quished France  and  snatched  the  sceptre  from  the 
Bourbons  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham. 

Prescott  with  luminous  pen  has  written  the  his- 
tory of  Mexico  and  South  America  and  depicted  the 
conflicts  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  adventurers 
with  the  Red  men  and  Incas  to  plant  the  colors  of 
Castile  and  Portugal  in  that  great  southern  division 

I  197  J 


198  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

of  America.  Everywhere  the  same  story  is  repeated ; 
man's  lust  of  dominion  is  written  in  the  blood  of  the 
Aborigines  who  were  gradually  driven  back  and  ex- 
terminated before  the  inroads  of  the  audacious  race 
of  Japhet. 

France  aided  the  thirteen  revolting  American 
colonies  to  break  the  yoke  of  bondage  to  England 
and  establish  the  Independence  of  the  United  States. 
The  prediction  of  Count  de  Vergennes  was  fulfilled. 
In  1759,  when  that  astute  French  statesman  received 
the  news  of  the  death  of  the  illustrious  Montcalm 
and  the  consequent  destruction  of  the  fair  fabric  of 
New  France  on  this  continent,  he  attributed  to  the 
Anglo-American  colonies  the  chief  credit  for  the  re- 
sult, and  declared  they  were  now  in  a  position  to 
help  themselves.  France  was  gone,  England  would 
soon  follow;  the  latter 's  triumph  would  prove  a  fatal 
one.  "  Her  colonies  will  no  longer  need  her  protec- 
tion," said  he  ;  "  she  will  call  on  them  to  contribute 
toward  supporting  the  burdens  they  have  helped  to 
bring  on  her,  and  they  will  answer  by  striking  off  all 
dependence." 

Thus  the  rivalry  of  thrones  subserved  the  cause  of 
liberty,  and  Louis  XVI.,  no  less  than  Washington, 
contributed  to  make  the  new  world  its  future  home. 
The  Titanic  wars  of  Napoleon  followed  and  kept  our 
first  four  presidents  in  a  sea  of  troubles  while  striving 
to  steer  the  bark  of  the  infant  republic  clear  of  those 
"entangling  alliances"  which  formed  the  burden  of 
warning  in  the  farewell  address  of  the  father  of  his 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  499 

country.  The  massive  strength  and  saving  common 
sense  of  Washington,  the  prophetic  vision  and  in- 
comparable genius  for  government  of  Jefferson,  res- 
cued the  United  States  in  the  days  of  our  infancy 
from  the  vortex  which  made  Europe  a  charnel  house 
of  carnage.  He  who  reads  the  general  correspond- 
ence and  writings  of  Jefferson  will  discover  that  that 
great  lawgiver  and  founder  of  government  was  the 
first  man  in  America  to  read  the  riddle  of  the  future 
aright,  and  to  mark  off  the  boundaries  between  re- 
publicanism and  monarchy  in  the  two  Americas. 

What  the  inspired  Bishop  Berkeley  prophesied  in 
his  verses  on  the  prospect  of  planting  arts  and  learn- 
ing in  America,  Jefferson's  world-embracing  vision 
not  only  described  as  the  poet  dreamed  it,  but  shaped 
it  into  legislation  and  the  accomplished  facts  of  state- 
craft : 

11  Westward  the  course  of  empire  takes  its  way ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  drama  with  the  day ; 
Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

Out  of  the  French  Revolution  a  man  arose  who 
controlled  the  whirlwind  and  rode  the  storm.  The 
mission  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  seemed  to  be  to  pla? 
gue  the  Pharaohs  of  the  earth.  He  turned  their 
rage  into  the  plaything  of  his  ambition,  and  by  his 
stupendous  genius  broke  them  like  a  horse-tamer 
into  abject  submission  to  his  will.  All  the  latent 
and  active  power  of  the  French  Revolution  became 
the  instrument  of  his  aggrandisement,  and  kings 


200  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

fled  aghast  before  the  colossal  armaments  of  the 
man  of  destiny.  The  finger  of  God  finally  traced 
the  handwriting  on  the  wall,  and  Napoleon  was 
weighed  in  the  scales  which  men  could  not  set,  and 
he  was  found  wanting.  Puny  monarchs  who  had 
cringed  to  his  knees,  trembled  before  his  frown  and 
striven  among  themselves  for  his  favors,  now  vaunted 
their  prowess  as  his  conquerors,  and  sat  down  at  the 
Congress  of  Vienna  to  divide  the  spoils.  In  the  day 
of  their  terror  these  same  monarchs  confessed  their 
impotency,  petitioned  heaven  for  deliverance  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes,  and  humbly  promised  to  give  to  God 
all  the  credit  for  any  success  over  the  terrible  Em- 
peror of  the  French.  "  The  Redeemer,"  exclaimed 
Alexander  of  Russia,  "  inspired  every  thought  com- 
prised in  the  alliance,  all  the  principles  it  an- 
nounces. It  is  not  our  work,  it  is  God's."  This 
was  the  treaty  of  the  Holy  Alliance  ratified  on  the 
26th  of  September,  1815.  Read  in  the  light  of  his- 
tory, the  real  issue  between  Napoleon  and  the  Allies 
was  not  the  vindication  of  the  rights  of  nations,  but 
which  of  them  should  have  the  coveted  power  to  vio- 
late them.  The  Allies  won,  and  their  Holy  Alliance 
became  a  scandalous  conspiracy  against  the  liberties 
of  mankind. 

The  Monroe  doctrine  proclaimed  in  1823,  has  been 
unequivocally  reasserted  in  1895  by  President  Cleve- 
land. The  British  government,  whose  encroach- 
ments upon  the  territory  of  Venezuela  have  been 
steadily  increasing  for  fifty  years  past,  was  invited 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  201 

by  this  government  to  submit  to  arbitration  all  ques- 
tions in  dispute  between  England  and  the  South 
American  republic.  Lord  Salisbury  in  his  reply  not 
only  rejected  the  invitation  to  arbitrate,  but  declared 
the  Monroe  doctrine  to  be  a  dead  and  buried  issue 
of  the  past,  wholly  obsolete  at  the  present  day,  and 
never  pertinent  or  applicable  except  against  the 
Holy  Alliance  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, when  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  South 
American  republics,  which  had  then  recently  thrown 
off  the  Spanish  yoke,  rendered  the  doctrine  of  some 
interest  and  importance  to  the  nations  of  Europe  and 
America.  His  lordship  asserts  for  Mr.  Canning,  Prime 
Minister  of  England  at  that  day,  chief  credit  over  its 
putative  author,  Mr.  Monroe,  for  the  idea  behind  the 
doctrine. 

Mr.  Cleveland's  message  to  Congress  is  the  proper 
reply  to  this  British  manifesto.  It  breaks  through 
the  cobwebs  of  diplomatic  garrulity  and  proclaims 
America's  unalterable  purpose  to  stand  by  the  Mon- 
roe doctrine  as  the  unwritten,  but  not  less  sacred  law 
than  the  Constitution  itself.  That  doctrine  was  ex- 
pressed by  President  Monroe  in  the  following  memo- 
rable words: 

1.  ' '  The  political  system  of  the  Allied  powers  is  essentially  different 
in  this  respect  from  that  of  America.  This  difference  proceeds  from 
that  which  exists  in  their  respective  governments.  And  to  the  de- 
fense of  our  own,  which  has  been  achieved  by  the  loss  of  so  much 
blood  and  treasure,  and  matured  by  the  wisdom  of  their  most  en- 
lightened citizens,  and  under  which  we  have  enjoyed  unexampled 
felicity,  this  whole  nation  is  devoted.  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor 


202  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

and  to  the  amicable  relations  existing  between  the  United  States  and 
those  powers  to  declare  that  we  should  consider  any  attempt  on  their 
part  to  extend  their  system  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dan- 
gerous to  our  peace  and  safety.  With  the  existing  colonies  or  de- 
pendencies of  any  European  power  we  have  not  interfered,  and 
shall  not  interfere.  But  with  the  governments  who  have  declared 
their  independence  and  maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we 
have,  on  great  consideration  and  on  just  principle,  acknowledged, 
we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of  oppressing 
them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner  their  destiny,  by  any  Euro- 
pean power,  in  any  other  light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  un- 
friendly disposition  toward  the  United  States." 

2.  "  Our  policy  in  regard  to  Europe,  which  was  adopted  at  an  early 
stage  of  the  wars  which  have  so  long  agitated  that  quarter  of  the 
globe,  nevertheless  remains  the  same,  which  is  not  to  interfere  in  the 
internal  concerns  of  any  of  its  powers ;  to  consider  the  government 
de  facto  as  the  legitimate  government  for  us ;  to  cultivate  friendly  re- 
lations with  it,  and  to  preserve  those  relations  by  a  frank,  firm  and 
manly  policy ;  meeting  in  all  instances  the  just  claims  of  every  power, 
submitting  to  injuries  from  none.  But,  in  regard  to  these  continents, 
circumstances  are  eminently  and  conspicuously  different.  It  is  im- 
possible that  the  Allied  powers  should  extend  their  political  system 
to  any  portion  of  either  continent  without  endangering  our  peace  and 
happiness;  nor  can  any  one  believe  that  our  Southern  brethren,  if 
left  to  themselves,  would  adopt  it  of  their  own  accord.  It  is  equally 
impossible,  therefore,  that  we  should  behold  such  interposition,  in 
any  form,  with  indifference." 

An  American  commission  to  examine  and  report 
upon  the  true  divisional  line  between  Venezuela  and 
British  Guiana  was  recommended  to  Congress  by 
President  Cleveland,  and  by  that  body  was  immedi- 
ately and  unanimously  authorized  by  law.  The  Pres- 
ident has  appointed  the  commissioners  and  the  coun- 
try awaits  their  report.  That  report  will  furnish  a 
light  unto  our  feet  whithersoever  or  into  whatever 
thorny  paths  its  recommendations  may  lead. 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  203 

In  this  crisis  the  American  people  have  not  been 
slow  to  express  their  sympathy  with  and  approval  of 
the  Democratic  President  and  the  Republican  Con- 
gress— happily  diverse  in  politics — to  make  their 
unity  in  patriotic  duty  more  impressive,  and  their 
unanimous  support  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  a  notice 
to  mankind  that  behind  that  vote  seventy  millions 
of  freemen  stand  solidly  arrayed. 

Certain  individuals  who  haunt  the  stock-markets 
have  expressed  dissent.  Like  the  Tories  who  beset 
Washington  in  the  Revolution,  they  are  on  the  Eng- 
lish side.  Should  the  tide  rise  these  mercenaries 
would  be  swept  away  in  the  resistless  flood.  In  the 
meantime  it  more  concerns  us  to  know  we  are  right 
in  holding  fast,  as  by  the  horns  of  the  altar,  to  the 
great  American  principle  of  non-intervention  by  Eu- 
rope with  the  free  governments  in  this  hemisphere, 
which  Jefferson  taught  Monroe  to  proclaim  in  the  days 
of  our  infancy,  and  which  Cleveland  now  reasserts 
after  we  have  hardened  into  the  bone  and  gristle  of 
manhood. 

Secretary  Olney,  in  his  correspondence  on  this 
grave  question,  has  recapitulated  the  precedents  laid 
down  by  this  government  by  many  of  his  predeces- 
sors in  the  State  Department,  all  having  been  in 
strict  line  with  the  principles  of  the  Monroe  doctrine. 
He  learnedly  reviews  the  pretensions  of  British 
Guiana  to  Venezuelan  territory,  and  shows  by  an 
elaborate  statement  of  the  various  British  surveys 
and  claims  that  the  territory  at  first  only  conjectur- 


204  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

ally  assumed  to  belong  to  British  Guiana,  30,000 
square  miles,  constantly  grew  in  extent  as  the  years 
went  by,  and  that  every  new  survey  became  but  a 
stage  and  resting-place  in  the  accelerated  progress, 
till  the  claim  to  30,000  has  grown  into  one  of  109,- 
000  square  miles — a  territory,  which,  as  a  distin- 
guished writer  has  pointed  out,  is  to-day  40,000 
square  miles  larger  than  the  entire  six  States  of  New 
England. 

Senator  Lodge  has  followed  on  the  same  side  in  a 
speech  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  in  which  he  has 
traced  the  growth  of  this  British  claim  with  great  re- 
search, no  little  accuracy,  and  true  American  pa- 
triotism. He  establishes  the  proposition  that  the  bal- 
ance of  power  in  Europe  is  not  more  important  to  its 
governments  than  the  Monroe  doctrine  is  to  the  two 
Americas.  Mr.  John  Bach  McMaster,  the  historian, 
has  also  contributed  several  interesting  papers  to  the 
controversy,  in  which  the  origin  and  history  of  the 
Holy  Alliance,  and  the  respective  messages  of  Presi- 
dent Monroe,  in  1823,  of  President  Polk,  in  1845 
and  1848,  and  of  President  Buchanan,  in  1860,  are 
all  discussed  with  fullness  and  ability. 

Of  these  several  papers  those  of  Secretary  Olney 
are  the  least  partisan.  He  does  not  even  criticise 
Secretary  Clayton  for  neglecting  to  assert  the  Mon- 
roe doctrine  in  his  negotiations  with  Lord  Bulwer, 
although  the  astute  Lord  Salisbury,  in  his  reply,  calls 
attention  to  Mr.  Clayton's  unfortunate  faux  pas.  His 
Lordship  says  :  "  It  (the  Monroe  doctrine)  is  said  to 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  2  05 

have  largely  influenced  the  government  of  that  counr 
try  in  the  conduct  of  its  foreign  affairs ;  though  Mr. 
Clayton,  who  was  Secretary  of  State  under  President 
Taylor,  expressly  stated  that  the  administration  had 
in  no  way  adopted  it."  But  neither  Senator  Lodge 
nor  Mr.  McMaster  has  observed  Mr.  Olney's  forbear- 
ance to  heap  so  serious  a  reproach  upon  an  Ameri- 
can statesman  as  is  implied  in  the  gratuitous  state- 
ment that  two  of  them  neglected  to  plant  themselves 
upon  the  time-honored  doctrine.  Senator  Lodge  goes 
out  of  his  way  to  arraign  Mr.  Calhoun  (t  as  the  only 
American  statesman  of  any  standing  who  has  tried  to 
limit  its  scope."  The  case  of  Mr.  Clayton,  mentioned 
by  Lord  Salisbury,  and  once  scathingly  reviewed  in 
the  Senate  by  the  illustrious  Stephen  A.  Douglas, 
evidently  escaped  the  attention  of  the  senator  from 
Massachusetts. 

Mr.  McMaster  indulges  in  a  similar  partisan  mis- 
representation of  the  attitude  of  James  K.  Polk  on 
the  same  subject  in  1826,  as  contrasted  with  his 
course  as  President  in  1845  and  again  in  1848.  Sen- 
ator Lodge,  with  the  exuberance  of  the  rhetorician, 
takes  the  world  into  his  confidence,  and  as  he  gets 
ready  to  send  a  Parthian  shaft  after  Mr.  Calhoun,  he 
pauses  to  inform  us  that  "  John  Quincy  Adams  may 
be  considered  as  the  real  author  of  the  Monroe  doc- 
trine/ '  The  subject  is  too  grave  for  partisan  and  ill- 
timed  flings.  Thus  the  opponents  of  the  great  Ameri- 
can doctrine,  first  enunciated  by  Mr.  Monroe,  are  fond 
of  quoting  the  advice  of  Washington  against  "en- 


206  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

tangling  alliances/7  forgetting  all  the  time  that  the 
father  of  his  country,  if  not  the  author,  was  the  most 
earnest  champion  of  our  first  great  alliance — that 
with  France  in  the  Revolution.  They  forget  that 
Jefferson,  the  constant  guide  whom  the  wise  Monroe 
delighted  to  follow,  was  the  man  to  whom  he  sub- 
mitted the  Rush-Canning  correspondence  on  this 
memorable  occasion,  and  that  it  was  upon  Jefferson's 
advice  he  acted  in  writing  the  message  which  has 
linked  his  name  with  national  glory,  and  will  trans- 
mit it  to  the  latest  posterity  consecrated  in  the  affec- 
tions of  his  countrymen  forever. 

It  may  not  be  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  subject 
to  let  Mr.  Calhoun  answer  the  charge  against  him  in 
his  own  words,  wherein  it  will  also  appear  that  the 
credit  attempted  to  be  snatched  from  Monroe  and 
given  to  Adams  by  Senator  Lodge,  is  bestowed  by  a 
witness,  who  was  present  during  these  great  transac- 
tions, on  him  to  whom  the  whole  world  accredits  it — 
honest,  fearless,  plain-spoken  James  Monroe.  It  is 
worthy  of  observation  that  Mr.  Adams  subsequently 
repudiated  this  doctrine  by  his  course  in  opposing 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  over  which  England  and 
France  were  then  seeking  to  establish  a  protectorate. 

In  his  speech  in  the  Senate  May  15,  1848,  on  the 
proposed  occupation  of  Yucatan,  Mr.  Calhoun,  in 
speaking  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  and  Mr.  Adams's 
part  therein,  said  :  "When  the  chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Foreign  Relations  addressed  the  Senate  a 
few  days  since,  he  related  a  conversation  which  he 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  ?07 

had  with  Mr.  Adams  in  reference  to  this  declaration ; 
and  according  to  his  statement,  if  I  heard  him  aright, 
and  he  he  correctly  reported,  Mr.  Adams,  in  applying 
his  observations  to  the  whole  of  these  declarations, 
stated  that  they  all  originated  with  himself,  and  were 
unknown  to  the  other  members  of  the  cabinet  until 
they  appeared  in  Mr.  Monroe's  message.  There  cer- 
tainly must  be  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Adams, 
or  that  of  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  as  to  the  two  first  of  these  declarations. 
The  history  of  the  transactions,  the  Senator  will  per- 
ceive, if  he  examines  the  documents,  shows  distinct- 
ly that  they  came  through  Mr.  Eush — originating, 
not  with  Mr.  Adams,  but  Mr.  Canning — and  were 
first  presented  in  the  form  of  a  proposition  from  Eng- 
land. I  recollect  as  distinctly  as  I  do  any  event  of 
my  life,  that  all  the  papers  in  connection  with  this 
subject  were  submitted  to  the  members  before  the 
cabinet  met,  and  were  duly  considered.  Mr.  Adams, 
then,  in  speaking  of  the  whole  as  one,  must  have  re- 
ference to  the  declaration  relative  to  colonization. 
As  respects  this  his  memory  does  not  differ  much 
from  mine.  My  impression  is,  that  it  never  became 
a  subject  of  deliberation  in  the  cabinet.  I  so  stated 
when  the  Oregon  question  was  before  the  Senate.  I 
stated  it  in  order  that  Mr.  Adams  might  have  an  op- 
portunity of  denying  it,  or  asserting  the  real  state  of 
the  facts.  He  remained  silent,  and  I  presume  that 
my  statement  is  correct — that  this  declaration  was 
inserted  after  the  cabinet  deliberation.  It  originated 


208  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

entirely  with  Mr.  Adams,  without  being  submitted  to 
the  cabinet,  and  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  owing  to  this 
fact  that  it  is  not  made  with  the  precision  and  clear- 
ness with  which  the  two  former  are.  It  declares, 
without  qualification,  that  these  continents  have  as- 
serted and  maintained  their  freedom  and  independ- 
ence, and  are  no  longer  subject  to  colonization  by  any 
European  power.  This  is  not  strictly  accurate.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  these  continents  had  not  asserted  and 
maintained  their  freedom  and  independence.  At 
that  period  Great  Britain  had  a  larger  portion  of  the 
continent  in  her  possession  than  the  United  States. 
Russia  had  a  considerable  portion  of  it,  and  other 
powers  possessed  some  portions  on  the  southern 
parts  of  this  continent.  The  declaration  was  broader 
than  the  fact,  and  exhibits  precipitancy  and  want  of 
due  reflection.  Besides  there  was  an  impropriety  in 
it  when  viewed  in  conjunction  with  the  foregoing  de- 
clarations. I  speak  not  in  the  language  of  censure. 
We  were,  as  to  them,  acting  in  concert  with  England 
on  a  proposition  coming  from  herself — a  proposition 
of  the  utmost  magnitude,  and  which  we  felt  at  the 
time  to  be  essentially  connected  with  our  peace  and 
safety;  and  of  course  it  was  due  to  propriety  as  well 
as  policy  that  this  declaration  should  be  strictly  in 
accordance  with  British  feeling.  Our  power  then 
was  not  what  it  is  now,  and  we  had  to  rely  upon  her 
co-operation  to  sustain  the  ground  we  had  taken. 
We  had  then  only  about  six  or  seven  millions  of  peo- 
ple scattered  and  without  such  means  of  communi- 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  209 

cation  as  we  now  possess  to  bring  us  together  in  a 
short  period  of  time.  The  declaration  accordingly, 
with  respect  to  colonization,  striking  at  England  as 
well  as  Russia,  gave  offence  to  her,  and  that  to  such 
an  extent  that  she  refused  to  co-operate  with  us  in 
settling  the  Russian  question.  Now,  I  will  venture 
to  say  that  if  that  declaration  had  come  before  that 
cautious  cabinet — for  Mr.  Monroe  was  among  the 
wisest  and  most  cautious  men  I  have  ever  known — 
it  would  have  been  modified  and  expressed  with  a 
far  greater  degree  of  precision  and  with  much  more 
delicacy  in  reference  to  the  feelings  of  the  British 
government/* 

The  present  international  dispute  is  one  full  of  en- 
couragement and  bright  prospects  for  our  country. 
The  United  States  is  the  natural  leader  of  the  new 
world  by  force  of  its  republican  primacy,  its  wealth, 
population,  and  standing  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  The  issues  of  the  past,  dividing  North  and 
South,  are  gone  forever.  The  problems  of  the  future 
may  in  no  small  degree  involve  the  principles  of  the 
Monroe  doctrine.  "  The  question  presented  by  the 
letters  you  have  sent  me,"  wrote  Jefferson  to  Monroe 
in  regard  to  the  Canning-Rush  documents,  "  is  the 
most  momentous  which  has  ever  been  offered  to  my 
contemplation  since  that  of  Independence.  That 
made  us  a  nation  ;  this  sets  our  compass  and  points 
the  course  which  we  are  to  steer  through  the  ocean 
of  time  opening  on  us." 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  dwell  upon  the  succes- 


210  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

sive  assaults  upon  the  rights  of  the  people  of  Europe 
which  were  made  hy  the  Holy  Alliance.  The  allies 
were  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia,  and  England  and 
France  for  a  time.  We  now  know  that  the  crowned 
heads  appealed  only  to  the  people,  while  they  dreaded 
Napoleon,  and  after  his  fall  they  forgot  their  prom- 
ises to  their  subjects,  and  preached  but  one  dis- 
course— the  divine  right  of  kings.  In  1818,  at  Aix 
la  Chapelle,  they  admitted  France  to  the  alliance. 
In  1820  they  met  at  Trappee,  in  Moravia,  did  little 
and  adjourned  to  meet  again  at  Lay  bach  in  1821. 
Here  they  began  to  show  the  mailed  hand,  and  the 
next  year,  at  the  congress  of  Verona,  the  scheme  was 
hatched  to  subvert  the  constitutional  government  of 
Spain,  which  later  on  was  carried  out.  Then  Naples, 
next  Poland,  and  finally  Hungary,  were  all  crushed 
beneath  this  new  juggernaut  of  kings.  While  the 
war  on  Spain  was  preparing,  with  France  as  the  ob- 
sequious tool  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  Russia  began  to 
turn  lustful  eye  on  the  republics  of  South  America. 
English  rivalry  in  that  quarter  of  the  globe  was  the 
means  of  withdrawing  Great  Britain  from  the  schemes 
of  the  allies,  and  led  Mr.  Canning  to  make  overtures 
to  Mr.  Rush.  Our  minister  at  London  acted  nobly, 
and  voiced  the  true  sentiments  of  his  countrymen, 
even  before  he  could  receive  instructions  from  the 
State  Department. 

One  startling  fact  should  not  be  omitted  here.  It 
is  surprising  that  none  of  the  many  prominent  per- 
sons engaged  in  discussing  the  Monroe  doctrine  at 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  211 

the  present  time — neither  the  President  nor  his  Sec- 
retary of  State,  neither  Senator  Lodge  nor  Mr.  Mc- 
Master — has  called  attention  to  it.  At  the  very  hour 
that  Mr.  Monroe  was  consulting  Jefferson  respecting 
monarchical  aggressions  in  South  America,  there 
was  laid  away  in  the  Russian  archives  the  record  of 
a  consultation  held  on  the  importance  of  reducing 
the  South  American  republics  under  the  dominion 
of  Spain.  It  formed  a  part  of  that  scheme  that  the 
United  States  should  be  subjugated  /  The  memoir  con- 
taining this  startling  proposal  emanated  in  the  year 
1817  from  the  pen  of  Pozzo  de  Borgo— one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  remarkable  corps. of  diploma- 
tists by  whom  Russia  has  prepared  the  march  of  her 
armies.  They  do  not  impertinently  volunteer  their 
advice  upon  their  government  unasked.  That  me- 
moir was  therefore  on  a  subject  then  under  conside- 
ration by  the  Russian  government,  and  its  language 
gives  the  confirmation  of  history  to  the  logic  of  Mr. 
Monroe's  message.  The  principles  of  the  Holy  Al- 
liance naturally  led  up  to  the  necessity  of  their  at- 
tempting to  overthrow  this  republic  as  their  crown- 
ing labor.  Pozzo  de  Borgo  rests  his  opinion  on  the 
incompatibility  between  our  institutions  and  those  of 
the  allies.  He  says* 

"Founded  on  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  the  republic  of  the 
United  States  of  America  was  a  fire  of  which  the  daily  contact  with 
Europe  threatened  the  latter  with  conflagration ;  that  as  an  asylum  for 
all  innovators,  it  gave  them  the  means  of  disseminating  at  a  distance, 
by  their  writings  and  by  the  authority  of  their  example,  a  poison  of 
which  the  communication  could  not  be  questioned,  as  it  was  well 


212  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

known  that  the  French  Revolution  had  its  origin  hi  the  United  States ; 
that  already  troublesome  effects  were  felt  from  the  presence  of  the 
French  refugees  in  the  United  States." 

He  then  proceeds  to  argue  that  our  reduction 
would  be  an  easy  enterprise,  while  our  augmenting 
power  made  us  objects  of  fear  to  European  monarch- 
ical governments. 

Russia,  therefore,  had  been  meditating  our  subju- 
gation, as  a  matter  of  sound  policy,  on  the  principle 
of  the  inherent  incompatibility  between  our  system 
and  hers  prior  to  the  Spanish  and  Neapolitan  revolu- 
tions, and  before  the  congresses  of  Laybach  and 
Verona  had  proclaimed  her  principles  to  the  world, 
or  elicited  the  warning  protest  of  President  Monroe. 
This  important  document  of  Pozzo  de  Borgo  was 
brought  to  light  by  that  profound  statesman  Senator 
SoulS  in  the  year  1852. 

An  invitation  was  extended  by  Columbia  and 
Mexico  to  the  United  States  to  attend  the  Con- 
gress of  Panama  in  1826,  and  take  part  in  its  delib- 
erations. President  Adams  and  his  illustrious  Sec- 
retary of  State,  Henry  Clay,  heartily  approved  of  this 
congress,  and  took  energetic  measures  to  make  it  a 
success.  If  Mr.  Lodge  is  really  anxious  to  discover 
the  author  of  the  American  system,  let  him  turn 
from  John  Quincy  Adams  to  Henry  Clay.  The 
great  Kentuckian  always  favored  a  sort  of  Am- 
phictyonic  council  of  the  free  governments  of  the 
two  Americas,  as  an  offset  to  the  Holy  Alliance  of 
the  European  monarchies.  The  Panama  mission, 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  213 

which  the  administration  so  warmly  espoused,  never 
took  effect,  "though  eventually  sanctioned,"  says 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  "by  both  houses  of  Congress." 
The  President  and  Senate,  always  wrangling,  did 
not  intermit  the  pastime  when  this  interesting 
question  came  up  for  discussion.  The  committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs  reported  adversely  to  the  Presi- 
dent's recommendations  in  favor  of  the  mission. 
Littleton  Waller  Tazewell  wrote  the  report,  which 
was  an  able  one,  but  it  would  have  been  a  wiser  one 
had  it  given  sanction  to  the  President's  idea  in  all 
respects,  except  its  moral  or  religious  suggestion, 
which  Senator  Tazewell  very  properly  rejected.* 

When  Russia  and  the  Holy  Allies  crushed  Hun- 
gary, the  eloquent  Kossuth  came  to  these  shores  as 
the  nation's  guest.  The  famous  exile  had  a  memor- 
able interview  with  Henry  Clay.  Age  had  softened 
the  fire  of  "  Harry  of  the  West,"  who  depicted  the  diffi- 
culties and  futility  of  military  operations  by  this 
country  against  Russia,  and  then  added  these  part- 
ing words:  "Thus,  sir,  after  effecting  nothing  in 
such  a  war,  after  abandoning  our  ancient  policy  of 
amity  and  non-intervention  in  the  affairs  of  other 
nations,  and  thus  justifying  them  in  abandoning  the 
terms  of  forbearance  and  non-interference  which 


*  The  feeling  in  the  Senate  ran  high  against  the  President,  whose  message 
respecting  an  open  or  secret  session  on  the  Panama  business  was  deemed 
offensive  or  intrusive.  John  Randolph,  previously  rather  favorable  to  the 
mission,  became  incensed  and  assailed  the  President  and  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  Clay,  in  such  unmeasured  terms  of  vituperation  that  a  chal- 
lenge from  Clay  followed,  and  resulted  in  the  celebrated  duel. 


214  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

they  have  hitherto  preserved  towards  us — after  the 
downfall,  perhaps,  of  the  friends  of  liberal  institu- 
tions in  Europe — her  despots,  imitating  and  pro- 
voked by  our  fatal  example,  may  turn  upon  us  in 
our  hour  of  weakness  and  exhaustion,  and,  with  an 
almost  irresistible  force  of  reason  and  of  arms,  they 
may  say  to  us:  You  have  set  us  the  example;  you 
have  quit  your  own  to  stand  on  foreign  ground; 
you  have  abandoned  the  policy  you  professed  in  the 
day  of  your  weakness,  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of 
the  people  of  this  continent,  in  behalf  of  those  prin- 
ciples, the  supremacy  of  which  you  say  is  necessary 
to  your  prosperity,  to  your  existence.  We,  in  our 
turn,  believing  that  your  anarchical  doctrines  are  de- 
structive of,  and  that  our  monarchical  principles  are 
essential  to  the  peace,  security  and  happiness  of  our 
subjects,  will  obliterate  the  bed  which  has  nourished 
such  noxious  weeds;  we  will  crush  you  as  the  propa- 
gandists of  doctrines  so  destructive  to  the  peace  and 
good  order  of  the  world.  The  indomitable  spirit  of 
our  people  might,  and  would  be  equal  to  the  emer- 
gency, and  we  might  remain  unsubdued  even  by  so 
tremendous  a  combination ;  but  the  consequences  to 
us  would  be  terrible  enough." 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  Mr.  Clay,  the  fiery 
and  intrepid  genius,  whose  warlike  spirit  made  him 
joint  leader  on  the  floor  of  Congress  with  the  equally 
bold  and  patriotic  Calhoun  in  our  second  war  with 
England,  should  stand  forth  in  his  old  age,  as  did 
Mr.  Calhoun  in  his  last  days,  the  eloquent  advocate 


The  Monroe  Doctrine.  215 

of  non-intervention,  the  champion  of  those  princi- 
ples which  received  their  deepest  and  most  earnest 
expression  in  the  farewell  address  of  George  Wastu 
ington. 

The  message  of  Mr.  Buchanan  in  1860  was  in  the 
strict  line  of  American  precedents  in  relation  to  the 
Monroe  doctrine.  At  that  period  France,  England 
and  Spain  were  threatening  an  armed  intervention 
in  Mexico.  General  Cass,  then  Secretary  of  State, 
entered  a  vigorous  protest,  and  President  Buchanan, 
in  his  annual  message  to  Congress  (December,  1860), 
used  the  following  language  :  "  I  deemed  it  my  duty 
to  recommend  to  Congress  in  my  last  annual  mes- 
sage, the  employment  of  a  sufficient  military  force  to 
penetrate  into  the  interior.  .  .  .  Euro- 
pean governments  would  have  been  deprived  of  all 
pretext  to  interfere  in  the  territorial  and  domestic 
concerns  of  Mexico.  We  should  thus  have  been  re- 
lieved from  the  obligation  of  resisting,  even  by  force, 
should  this  become  necessary,  any  attempt  by  these 
governments  to  deprive  our  neighboring  republic  of 
portions  of  her  territory — a  duty  from  which  we  could 
not  shrink  without  abandoning  the  traditional  and 
established  policy  of  the  American  people." 

Soon  afterwards  our  beloved  country  was  plunged 
into  domestic  war  between  the  States,  and  Napoleon 
the  Third  took  advantage  of  our  misfortunes  to  set 
up  a  monarchy  in  Mexico.  In  a  few  years  more  the 
United  States  government  was  again  in  a  position  to 
make  its  will -known,  and  to  enforce  respect  for  its 


216  The  Monroe  Doctrine. 

traditional  policy.  The  fate  of  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian furnished  an  impressive  warning  to  Europe 
of  the  inexorable  purpose  of  this  republic  to  carry 
out  the  Monroe  doctrine  at  all  hazards.  This  digest 
of  precedents  we  deem  quite  sufficient  as  a  solemn 
protest  against  any  departure,  at  this  day,  from  the 
formal  and  indestructible  declaration  of  American 
principles  uttered  by  James  Monroe  in  1823. 


